| 2020 election audits are going forward in multiple states; Iran is optimistic about talks with American partners on a renewed nuclear deal. Tonight's Sentences was written by Gregory Svirnovskiy. | | | | | | | | | | | Elizabeth Frantz for The Washington Post via Getty Images | | - In some parts of the country, the 2020 election is still happening: Places in Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, and New Hampshire are reviewing ballots and trying to call the election results into doubt, despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud. [AP / Kate Brumback and Nicholas Riccardi]
- In Fulton County, Georgia, an audit of 147,000 ballots is set soon to move forward even though Fulton ballots went through three separate recounts last year. Elections officials say the Georgia recount will be held to a far stricter standard than the one taking place in Arizona. [CNN / Eric Bradner]
- Cyber Ninjas, the firm hired by Arizona Senate President Karen Fann to run the audit for the state's largest county, never formally submitted a bid. Instead of carefully checking each ballot for irregularities, they're testing out conspiracy theories, compromising the security of state elections machinery and rendering it unusable for future elections. [AP / Nicholas Riccardi]
- It's been theorized that Fann handed Cyber Ninjas the contract at least in part because CEO Doug Logan had previously posted election conspiracy theories on his Twitter account, refusing to accept a Trump loss in Arizona. [The Week / Catherine Garcia]
- All this as the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is deciding whether to sue Republicans in the state Senate for defamation. They are requesting that the leaders of the audit keep detailed records for any potential future legal proceedings. [12 News NBC]
| | | Negotiators are optimistic as Iran nuclear talks enter their fifth round | | - A fifth round of talks between Iranian officials and American-aligned negotiators is underway in Vienna as both sides look for compromise measures aimed at a reset of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The US left that deal under President Donald Trump last year. Now the Biden camp wants back in. [Foreign Policy / Colm Quinn]
- So does Iran — badly. Sanctions put in place by the Trump team badly hit the Iranian economy, forcing it to rely disproportionately on Russia and China. Now Tehran is grabbing at any chance for economic versatility. [Foreign Affairs / Jamsheed K. Choksy and Carol E.B. Choksy]
- Iran on Monday agreed to allow for continued surveillance by the international community of its nuclear facilities for the next month, avoiding a major setback in negotiations over the deal. [NYT / Michael Crowley and Farnaz Fassihi]
- But Iranian elections are due to be held in mid-June. And the country's Guardian Council, which approves all candidates running for president, has failed to put a pragmatist or reformer on the ballot. Electing the wrong kind of conservative strongman could imperil a final deal. [Al Jazeera / Maziar Motamedi]
- "Iran, I think, knows what it needs to do to come back into compliance on the nuclear side," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC News. "And what we haven't yet seen is whether Iran is ready and willing to make a decision to do what it has to do." [BBC]
- One party that definitively does not want a nuclear deal for Iran: Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made nuclear negotiations a key topic of conversation after meeting with Blinken in Jerusalem Tuesday. [NYT / Michael Crowley]
| | | | | | | Republicans in nine states are seeking to pass laws limiting students' exposure to critical race theory, which examines the role of systemic racism in America's founding and history. | | | [Axios / Russell Contreras] - A new grand jury has been seated for the next phase of the investigation into the Trump Organization, suggesting Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance may announce charges soon. [CNN / Paul LeBlanc]
- President Biden walked back Donald Trump's "Remain in Mexico" policy on immigration, but the issue is as complicated as ever. The new rules do not address the tens of thousands of asylum seekers who had their claims denied or dismissed under the policy. [AP / Elliot Spagat]
- House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy finally condemned Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for comparing Capitol mask-wearing rules to the Holocaust, calling the remarks appalling. It took him five days to do so. And Greene, contrary to Liz Cheney, who was recently ousted from her leadership role over her criticisms of Trump, is currently facing no punishment. [NPR / Barbara Sprunt]
| | | | | Support our journalism | | Reader contributions help keep Vox and newsletters like Sentences free for all. Support our work from as little as $3. | | | | | | | | | | "Marjorie is wrong, and her intentional decision to compare the horrors of the Holocaust with wearing masks is appalling. Let me be clear: the House Republican Conference condemns this language." | | | | | | | | | | |
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