“We don’t have the structure to do an audit,” she said on KFYI’s radio show, “The Conservative Circus with James T. Harris”, adding, “But we appreciate your contribution to making the elections bigger.”
She added that the structure for an audit “does not exist in our process, in our procedures, in our bylaws, in bylaws”.
Ward, one of the most fervent proponents of former President Donald Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him, said not only that an audit was not possible, but that appeals were being pressed as a way to attack it.
She argued that the only people who require an audit are Sergio Arellano – a small Tucson businessman who challenged Ward to the position of state party – and people who were part of his campaign.
Arellano did not respond to CNN’s request for a response to Ward on Friday.
“I anticipate that the state GOP will do a solid job here and will provide election officials across the state with an example of how to conduct a timely audit and how important ballot security and paper backups are important,” said Arellano in a statement posted on Facebook.
He claimed that a “reversal of the declared results” in another party dispute has prompted a “number of state committee members” to raise concerns and contact him to request that he request an audit. Sandra Dowling was announced as the winner of a bid for the general committee of members of the 8th Congressional District of Arizona, only to lose the victory due to a mistake.
During the radio interview, Ward went on to attack the media, saying that stories about the possible audit were trying to “dig into something that just doesn’t exist” and that “everything was right” with the election.
The former vice president became the second Democrat since Harry Truman in 1948 to beat Arizona in 2020. After Biden’s victory, Ward attacked some Republicans who supported the new president, including Cindy McCain, widow of the late Senator John McCain , and former Republican Senator Jeff Flake.
CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi contributed to this report.