A Maricopa County judge set oral arguments on Friday to rush the schedule for resolving the remainder of Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s election challenge.
In March, the Arizona Supreme Court gave Lake one of her legal claims regarding how Maricopa County verified that the signatures on the ballot affidavit envelope matched those on the voter’s existing records. I ordered that new consideration be given.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson set that schedule for Monday and instructed attorneys to submit their written arguments this week for a court hearing on Friday.
Lake’s attorneys petition the judge to reconsider portions of Lake’s original lawsuit, which has already been dismissed, and merge it with pending public records requests that Lake intends to examine ballot affidavit envelopes. said so. Maricopa County’s attorney, Gov. Katie Hobbs, won the gubernatorial office by about 17,000 votes, and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes signaled that he would file a motion to dismiss Lake’s signature verification claim.
Thompson said the three-day trial could begin on May 17 if needed. If he agrees to dismiss his remaining counts, there will be no need for a trial.
Lake’s final shot:What You Need to Know About Signature Claims, Evidence, and the Law
How Courts Have Ruled Lake’s Election Challenges So Far
Lake’s legal challenge has been stuck in a judicial back and forth since December. The former TV news anchor said she made seven legal claims in her case, six of which the Arizona Supreme Court had properly dismissed by lower court judges.
Lake’s claim that election day problems with long lines and vote-counting machines in Maricopa County justified her request that she be declared governor or that a new election be held. No court has found supporting evidence.
Last week, the Arizona Supreme Court fined Lake’s attorneys Brian Brem and Kurt Olsen $2,000 for repeating “blatantly false” allegations related to the 35,000 votes injected into the results. ordered to pay.
The remaining issue that is going on is around signature verification.
In a lengthy lawsuit first filed in December, Lake argued that a “significant number” of votes whose signatures had not been properly verified would be counted, based on “information and belief,” to determine the outcome of the 2022 election. He argued that it may have changed.
Thompson dismissed that claim on the doctrine of preventing litigation delays and prohibiting challenges to election procedures after an election has taken place.
But the Supreme Court said the decision was erroneous, whether there was another reason to dismiss the claim, or whether Lake could prove mathematically that enough votes were affected to change the outcome of the election. The case has been remanded to Thompson to determine whether it can be proved.
She cannot rely on “unbound claims of uncertainty,” the court wrote.
Contact reporter Stacey Barchenger stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.follow her twitter @sbarchenger.
