It's worth mentioning that Kern, who lost his own re-election bid last November, was at the January 6th riot in Washington but has not been charged with any crimes. The fact that the Arizona GOP put such people on the frontlines of their "audit" tells you everything you need to know about them though. The reporter who posted the picture of Kern counting ballots was escorted out and his press privileges revoked.
Source: Newsweek
Former Republican Arizona state Representative Anthony Kern, who was present at the January 6 Capitol riot and advocated the baseless "Stop the Steal" movement, has been seen taking part in the hand recount of Maricopa County's 2.1 million ballots from the 2020 election.
On Friday, Arizona Republic reporter Ryan Randazzo took and posted a photo of Kern counting ballots inside the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix for the Maricopa County election audit.
Kern lost his 2020 race for re-election, but his race isn't being recounted. The Arizona recount only covers the races for president and the U.S. Senate. Both were won by Democrats.
Kern's participation has raised eyebrows because while serving as a state representative, he signed a "joint resolution" with fellow Republican state legislators trying to invalidate the state's election results.
Looks like we have former AZ lawmaker Anthony Kern reviewing ballots #azauditpool pic.twitter.com/lCr7Cpy5MS
— Ryan Randazzo (@utilityreporter) April 30, 2021
Soon after Randazzo was removed.
Well, a man in a cowboy hat and a badge that said Wake TSI just came over, asked if I tweeted the picture of Anthony Kern, and when I said yes he escorted me out of the building and said my press privileges were “revoked”
— Ryan Randazzo (@utilityreporter) April 30, 2021
So I need to clarify: My read of agreement was not to show ballots. The language is more nuanced. Can't show ballot with discernible information. (And a reminder: Voters' names are not on ballots.)
— Brahm Resnik (@brahmresnik) April 30, 2021
An Arizona Republic reporter was kicked out of the election audit site after posting a photo of former state Rep. Anthony Kern at a ballot counting table.
Kern spoke on Jan. 6 at a rally outside the U.S. Capitol on the same day a mob stormed the building.https://t.co/HdCQggMOIF— azcentral (@azcentral) April 30, 2021
