Report on Arizona's Maricopa County ballots in 2020 election delayed, auditors have COVID, report

The report of ballots cast in the 2020 presidential election in Arizona's Maricopa County has been delayed because the chief executive and two other employees of the audit team reportedly have COVID-19  and are "quite sick."

A draft report of the findings was expected to be delivered Monday to Republicans in the state Senate, who hired the Florida-based firm Cyber Ninjas to conduct the audit. 

Arizona Senate President Karen Fann, a Republican,  announced the delay Monday, saying firm chief executive Doug Logan and two other members of the audit team had contracted the disease caused by the coronavirus and were “quite sick,” according to The Washington Post.

An audit spokesman did return the newspaper's request for comment.

Fann said that she still expected to receive part of the draft report, which has had several delays.

She also said the full report would be made public after it was submitted and checked for "accuracy, clarity and proof of documentation of findings," the Post reports.

The audit reviewed roughly 2.1 million ballots.

Democratic President Joe Biden won the once-reliable red state over then-President Donald Trump by 10,000 votes, out of roughly 3.3 million ballots.  

The results of the audit are expected to draw attention to voting irregularities and potential voting fraud in 2020, with the expectation that voting officials across the country will take steps to further secure their state election systems. 

Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are making efforts to have similar audits.