Arizona court declines most of Lake’s appeal over gov’s race

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Supreme Court has declined to hear most of Republican Kari Lake’s appeal in a challenge of her defeat in the governor’s race but revived a claim that was dismissed by a trial court.

In an order Wednesday, the state’s highest court said a lower court erroneously dismissed Lake’s claim challenging the application of signature verification procedures on early ballots in Maricopa County.

The court remanded the claim to a trial court for consideration.

Lake stated Wednesday night that she was thrilled by the decision.

“The signature verification process in Maricopa County is a house of cards,” Lake said in a statement. “Thanks to this ruling my team will get the chance to topple it.”

Lake, who lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs by just over 17,000 votes, was among the most vocal 2022 Republican candidates promoting former President Donald Trump’s election lies, which she made the centerpiece of her campaign.

Lake, unlike most other election deniers across the country, refused to concede after they lost their races in November.

In her challenge, the former TV anchor focused on problems with ballot printers at some polling places in Maricopa County, home to more than 60% of the state’s voters.

The defective printers created ballots that were too small to be read at the polling places by the on-site tabulators.

In some areas, lines became obstructed by the chaos.

The alleged problems with the Lake ballot printers were caused by intentional misconduct

Officials in the county claim that everyone was able to vote. All ballots were counted as those who were affected by the printers were taken over to higher-tech counters at election headquarters.

In mid-February, the Arizona Court of Appeals rejected Lake’s assertions, concluding she presented no evidence that voters whose ballots were unreadable by tabulators at polling places were not able to vote.

The appeals court noted that even a witness called to testify on Lake’s behalf confirmed ballots that couldn’t initially be read at polling places may ultimately have been counted.

And while a pollster testified that the polling place problems disenfranchised enough voters to change the election’s outcome, the appeals court said his conclusion was baseless.

Lake’s attorneys also said the chain of custody for ballots was broken at an off-site facility where a contractor scans mail-in ballots to prepare them for processing.

Lawyers claimed that workers mailed in their ballots rather than returning them via normal channels. They also claimed that the paperwork proving that ballot transfers had been made was missing. The county denies the claims.

Hobbs’ attorneys have said Lake was trying to sow distrust in Arizona’s election results and offered no proof to back up her allegations.

Lake was faced with a very difficult challenge. She had to prove misconduct in order to win and it led to the wrong woman being named the winner.

Hobbs became governor in January 2002.

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