Maricopa County election officials will begin delivering vote-counting machines and 2.1 million ballots from the 2020 General Election to the Arizona fairgrounds on Wednesday morning.

The delivery fulfills a months-old subpoena by state Senate Republicans, who in December demanded access to the county’s voting materials to conduct yet another audit of the election.

On Wednesday, nearly 400 machines will be delivered to Veterans Memorial Coliseum, which Republicans rented after the county refused to allow private firms to conduct the Senate’s audit at county election headquarters. Pallets of ballots will be shipped to the coliseum on Thursday. 

Ken Bennett, a former secretary of state tapped by Senate President Karen Fann to serve as a liaison between the county, Senate and auditors, said the firms have already begun to prep the coliseum for their work, which can begin in earnest with the delivery of the machines and ballots.

The audit will begin by the end of the week, Bennett said.

Multiple audits and a partial hand count of Maricopa County ballots have already confirmed the accuracy of the county’s election results, and critics warn the Senate’s audit will do nothing more than perpetuate baseless claims of election fraud among Republican voters.

Voting rights groups have also warned the firm hired by Fann, a Prescott Republican, to lead the audit is woefully unqualified.