Washington DC — A group of right-wing lawyers representing President Trump's former adviser Stephen Miller has filed a new lawsuit in Yavapai County, Arizona, which is similar to a previous lawsuit the group filed and dropped in Maricopa County earlier this month. It's the same thing.

A new lawsuit takes aim at the details of election administration.

The lawsuit, filed by the Arizona Strong Community Foundation and the America First Legal Foundation on behalf of residents of Coconino, Yavapai and Maricopa counties, challenges numerous election procedures in the state. The new lawsuit is very similar to an earlier lawsuit the group filed in Maricopa County, a Democratic stronghold and the fourth most populous county in the country, and later dropped.

Although the lawsuit was filed in Yavapai County, it specifically addresses election practices in Maricopa County, including signature verification, storage, vote centers, voter registration cancellation, ballot processing, and drop box policies. It becomes. The plaintiffs allege that for “many years” election officials have “consistently failed in their duty to lawfully and fairly administer elections,” particularly in Maricopa County.

In Maricopa County, early ballots received on Election Day are taken to the Maricopa County Counting and Elections Center (MCTEC). They will not be counted there, but the number of ballots will be estimated based on the number of ballot trays at MCTEC. After this, the ballots are taken to another location for signature verification and counting. The complaint reignites complaints on the right about Maricopa County's chain of custody procedures, arguing that the county should not be using an estimation system to count the number of ballots entering MCTEC.

The lawsuit alleges that the three counties are illegally using signature verification software, arguing that under Arizona law, “humans, and only humans, may perform signature verification.” The plaintiffs also objected to the county's correction process (a process that allows voters to correct errors), arguing that the three counties' policy of calling voters with a phone number on the envelope if there is a problem with their signature is illegal. is alleging. .

The complaint also alleges that Maricopa County's voting center locations discriminate against white voters in the county and favor black and Hispanic voters at the expense of white voters. The plaintiffs maintain that Maricopa County's use of “unmanned” ballot drop boxes violates Arizona law, continuing right-wing attacks on safe and secure ballot drop boxes. They said the use of unattended drop boxes in the three counties “creates a significant and unreasonable risk that the drop boxes will be used to facilitate illegal ballot harvesting or other fraudulent activities.” ” he claims.

A little more than two weeks later, the plaintiffs withdrew their Maricopa County lawsuit.

A separate lawsuit, first filed Feb. 6, challenges the same process in Maricopa County. Last week, just 16 days after filing their lawsuit, the plaintiffs filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss their case. The plaintiffs sought dismissal without prejudice, which means they can refile similar lawsuits, which is exactly what the group did.

Maricopa County last week asked the court to dismiss the plaintiffs' lawsuit in Maricopa County with prejudice, preventing the group from re-filing. The county alleges that the plaintiffs are engaging in a “thinly veiled attempt to leverage forum shops.” Forum shopping is when a plaintiff pursues a claim in a particular location where they believe a court will treat the claim most favorably.

Maricopa County argues that courts “should not turn a blind eye to what plaintiffs are trying to do.” The best and only way to prevent such egregious conduct here, and to deter other litigants from engaging in such conduct in the future, is to dismiss this case with prejudice. ”

It will now be up to the Maricopa County Court to decide whether the case will be dismissed with or without prejudice.

James Rogers, senior counsel at America First Legal, said in a statement. I have written:

“A majority of Arizonans believe that flaws in the way Maricopa County conducted the 2022 election influenced the outcome. Public trust in our institutions is being shaken. The purpose is to restore the integrity of the election process. And how is Maricopa County responding to residents' legitimate concerns? Delaying litigation and preventing the case from being heard on the merits? This voluntary dismissal is not the end of this case, but only the beginning. This case has been re-filed in Yavapai County, and we continue to vigorously prosecute this case on behalf of our client. It's time to restore public confidence in Arizona's elections.”

Yavapai's new lawsuit is the latest in a series of lawsuits targeting election administration in Arizona.

The new lawsuit is the eighth anti-voting lawsuit targeting election administration in the state, according to the Democracy Docket's lawsuit database. The lawsuits, filed by Republicans and conservative legal groups, target the state's 2023 Election Procedures Manual, drop boxes, signature verification rules and hand counting. With the 2024 election just months away, it is clear that the conservative legal movement is stepping up its efforts to cause as much disruption as possible in the courts, with the goal of making it harder for Arizonans to vote.

Read the complaint here.

Learn more about the Yavapai County case here.

Read more about the Maricopa County case here.