A judge in Arizona has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Kari Lake over her loss in last year’s gubernatorial election, ruling that Maricopa County, the state’s most populous county, failed to scrutinize voter signatures on mail-in ballot envelopes. The court ruled that it was not possible to prove that .

The decision, issued late Monday, is the latest legal setback for Republican Lake, who was endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump in one of the nation’s most powerful gubernatorial races in 2022.

During a three-day jury trial last week in Maricopa County State Superior Court, Lake’s attorneys said election officials were working too quickly to properly review the 300,000 signatures attached to a mail-in ballot. claimed he could not.

but, Decision on page 6Justice Peter A. Thompson said the process is governed by state law, which requires that signatures be compared to signatures on the general voter file, but how much time officials must spend on each ballot. I wrote that it does not contain specific guidelines on whether

“Plaintiff’s evidence and allegations have not cleared the hurdle,” he wrote, adding, “Neither one second, nor three seconds, nor six seconds. .

Speaking at a news conference in Arizona on Tuesday, Lake said he plans to appeal the ruling and that his lawyers are exploring various avenues of action.

“We can no longer trust the clowns who run our election in Maricopa County,” she said, then added, “You guys haven’t seen the end of our case.”

The lawsuit is the latest in a series of lost cases surrounding Mr. Lake’s election, which he has argued without evidence that mail-in ballots undermine the fairness of elections. Other allegations in her case had previously been dismissed by the court.

Mr. Lake has hinted at the possibility of running again. Earlier this year, he said he was considering running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Senator Kirsten Cinema, who left the Democratic Party in December to become an independent.

Clint L. Hickman, chairman of the Maricopa County Oversight Board, which helps oversee elections in the county, praised the judge’s decision. statement on monday.

“Outrageous allegations about election fraud may get media attention and provoke fundraiser lawsuits, but they won’t win in court,” he wrote. “If the ‘bomb remarks’ or ‘smoke bombs’ are not backed up by facts, you will lose the case in court.”