Richer didn't have a problem "Auditing" Fontes
āIndependent auditā lawyer challenging Fontes for recorder
April 2, 2019
Stephen Richer, the Republican attorney who authored an āindependent auditā of Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes commissioned by the Arizona Republican Party that leveled several unsubstantiated allegations against him, is now seeking the office himself.
Richer announced on Tuesday that heās running for county recorder. If he wins the Republican nomination, heāll go head to head against the Democratic incumbent he skewered in an audit of the 2018 general election that the Arizona Republican Party commissioned.
The preliminary audit aired several unsubstantiated conspiracy theories and baseless allegations of election fraud and partisanship on Fontesās part, some of which didnāt even cite a source or origin for the claims. Though Richer labeled the claims as unsubstantiated, some Republicans portrayed them as established fact.
Richer also questioned some of Fontesās other election-related actions in his report, such as the expanded use of emergency voting centers in 2018, his placement of those centers, and his new policy of reaching out to voters with potentially deficient signatures on their early ballots. Richer concluded in the audit that those policies were questionable but not illegal.
More substantively, Richerās campaign website took aim at Fontes over his handling of the 2018 primary election. Sixty-two polling places didnāt open on time at 6 a.m. for the Aug. 28 election. All had opened by 11:33 a.m. An audit commissioned by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors put much of the blame on Fontes for a lack of contingency planning, and issues with staffing and training.
Richer noted that Fontes defeated longtime Republican Recorder Helen Purcell in 2016 over criticism of her mishandling of that yearās presidential preference election, which saw some voters forced to wait in lines of more than five hours.
āHe wrote the script, right?ā Richer told Arizona Mirror.
Richer defended his inclusion of unverified claims in his report, telling the Mirror that people were asking him about them, and that some people would have viewed him as ignoring the issues if heād omitted them. Nonetheless, he said he was clear in stating that there wasnāt any proof to back up those claims.
āI wouldnāt encourage anyone to jump to conclusions that arenāt fully substantiated,ā he said.
The audit report Richer released in January contained only his preliminary findings. He planned a final report after receiving documents heād requested from Fontesās office, which he still hasnāt received. But now that heās running for recorder, Richer said he wonāt be involved if the Arizona Republican Party chooses to continue the audit.
Richer said the purpose of the audit wasnāt to attack Fontes in anticipation of a campaign against him.
Richer isnāt the only Republican looking to unseat Fontes. Aaron Flannery, who unsuccessfully challenged Purcell for the GOP nomination in 2016, has filed to run again.
Fontes could not be reached for comment.
https://www.azmirror.com/blog/independent-audit-lawyer-challenging-fontes-for-recorder/