Phoenix –
The Arizona Supreme Court has refused to hear most of the appeals of Republican Kari Lake’s gubernatorial loss, but has reinstated the claims that were dismissed in the first instance.
In an order Wednesday, the state’s Supreme Court said a lower court had erroneously dismissed Lake’s claim to challenge the application of signature verification procedures in early voting in Maricopa County. sent the claim back to the court of first instance.
Lake said late Wednesday that he was thrilled with the verdict.
“The signature verification process in Maricopa County is like Trump,” Lake said in a statement. “Thanks to this ruling, my team will have a chance to overthrow it.”
Lake, who lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs by just over 17,000 votes, is one of the most vocal candidates among the 2022 Republican candidates to promote former President Donald Trump’s election lies, and she made it central to her campaign. After losing the election in November, most other election opponents across the country conceded, but Lake did not.
Her challenge focused on ballot printer issues at several polling places in Maricopa County, home to over 60% of the state’s voters.
Ballots produced by faulty printers were too thin to be read by on-site counters at polling stations. Amid the chaos, lines retreated in some areas. Lake argued that the ballot printer problem was the result of deliberate misconduct.
County officials said those affected by the printers were transported to more sophisticated counters at election headquarters so everyone had a chance to vote and all votes were tallied.
In mid-February, the Arizona Court of Appeals dismissed Lake’s claim, concluding that she had provided no evidence that voters whose ballots could not be read by the counters at the polling place could not have cast their ballots.
The appeals court confirmed that even witnesses called to testify on Mr. Lake’s behalf may have ultimately counted ballots that could not have been read at the polling place the first time. The investigator testified that the polling station problem disenfranchised enough voters to change the outcome of the election, but the Court of Appeals said his conclusion was unfounded.
Lake’s attorneys also said the chain of ballot storage was broken at an offsite facility where contractors scan mail ballots and prepare them for processing. Instead, he claimed that he had piled up his mail-in ballots and that the documents documenting the transfer of ballots were missing. The county disputes the allegations.
Hobbes’ attorney said Lake was trying to discredit the results of the Arizona election and did not provide evidence to support her claims.
Lake faced very long odds in her challenge. This required proving cheating specifically intended to deny her victory, resulting in the wrong woman being declared the winner.
Hobbes became governor on January 2nd.
