Lawyers for former Republican Attorney General candidate Abe Hamade returned to the Mojave County courtroom and said they had new evidence that Hamade “should be declared elected as Arizona Attorney General.”
Jennifer Wright, the former leader of the controversial state’s election integrity prosecutor’s office, said Tuesday that more than 1,100 people were killed after then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs hid her votes during a campaign recount and changed voter registration. Claimed he could no longer vote. record.
Attorneys for Democratic Attorney General Chris Mays, Maricopa County and the Office of the Secretary of State said these claims are false and misread state laws that determine what and when the public knows about the recount process. I strongly object to it.
They called on High Court Judge Lee Jantsen to reject Hamade’s request for a retrial and to call off the election challenge, which has been going on for six months.
Jantzen, who is weighing whether Hamade should make his case again, did not make a ruling from the bench on Tuesday. Mr. Jansen had previously ruled, and Mr. Hamade’s own lawyers also admitted in December that there was no evidence to change the outcome of the election.
Mr. Hamade, who attended the public hearings, lost a close contest to Mr. Mays in November, sparking a new state law calling for a recount.
After a statewide recount, the gap between the two candidates settled at 511 to 280, making it the closest election campaign in state history.
Hamade continues to question the election results, but one of his lawyers laments the lack of trust in those running the elections.
“Our country is in trouble because the public is losing trust and confidence in their elected officials,” Nevada attorney James Savalos told the judge. “And when there are people entrusted with the sanctity of our system, like Miss Hobbs, it’s no wonder their conduct in this case bothered me so much.”
Hobbes served one term as secretary of state, was elected governor in November, and took office in January. She is also fighting persistent legal challenges from former Republican candidate Kari Lake, who has not yielded to her campaign, and a trial on a single issue is set to begin Wednesday.
Sabarros and Wright accused Hobbes of withholding the team votes revealed in the recount, and said that if the 1,100 provisional ballots were torn, as Election Day voters did, Hamade would lose the election. He claimed that he would collect enough votes to win the battle. But an Arizona court required candidates to demonstrate that not only could they have been affected, but that their results were affected, based on calculations using a smaller sample size.
“They don’t yet have real evidence that would change the outcome,” said Alexis Dannemann, an attorney for Perkins Coy in Phoenix who represents Mays. “Rather, their argument in this court can be summed up as ‘The election is near. Let us keep looking and we might find something.'”
Dannemann said the recount order prevented Hobbes from disclosing Pinal County’s votes, allowing only a judge to reveal the results. Craig Morgan, an attorney at Phoenix law firm Sherman & Howard and an attorney in the Office of the Secretary of State, said Pinal County’s vote had no effect on the outcome of the election.
Both attorneys argued that Jantzen should close the case. Under Arizona law, election issues have specific and fast timelines, and they were over long ago, he said.
“Arizonas deserve a final decision in the 2022 general election,” Morgan said. “Every day that this case exists without a final judgment is another day that (Hamade) and his friends, his colleagues and his voters may continue to violate the legitimacy of the electoral process in Arizona. is.”
Mr. Morgan accused Mr. Hamade of electoral officials’ integrity and “seeked to question the very foundations of free, complete and fair elections in our country. Arizonas need to end this practice.” condemned.
Please contact reporter Stacy Berchanger. stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.please follow her twitter @sbarchenger.
