Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer is suing former Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake for defamation, according to Maricopa County Superior Court records.
Republican Richer said Lake had put 300,000 illegal ballots into Maricopa County’s final ballot tally, intentionally causing the county’s on-demand ballot printers to produce the wrong size ballots, and that the ballots would be voted out in 2022. alleging that he made false allegations that he interfered with the election of
his lawsuit It points to various social media posts and statements made by Lake and its affiliates after Election Day.
The complaint further alleges that Lake knew, or should have known, that the allegations were untrue.
“Not only do I clearly never do what she is accusing me of, but as a matter of Arizona law and the election administration process, I have no responsibility or jurisdiction over the printing of ballots on Election Day. We don’t even have rights,” Richer said in an op-ed for the Republic of Arizona announcing the lawsuit.
The complaint alleges that as a result of Lake’s remarks, Richer and her family were “targeted with violence and death threats that changed their lives.”
“While I strongly believe in the protections afforded to all of us under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, we must be held accountable when we harm our fellow citizens through defamation,” Richer said in a statement. rice field. “In America, no one is above the law. I stand by that principle and seek justice for what my family and I have been through.”
Please read the documentation: Maricopa County Registrar Stephen Richer vs. Kari Lake, Kari Lake for Arizona, Save Arizona Fund, Inc.
Lake did not immediately respond to The Republic’s request for comment on the lawsuit.
The lawsuit comes after Lake filed a number of lawsuits against Richer and several other Maricopa County election officials, including a lawsuit challenging the county over public records. and a lawsuit aimed at overturning the November 2022 election results.
Lake lost the election to Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs by 17,117 votes. In May, a Maricopa County judge ruled in favor of Hobbes and dismissed Lake’s claims that improper signature verification and fraud influenced the outcome.
what happened now?
Greg Leslie, executive director of the First Amendment Clinic at Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, said Richer was a “pretty clear” public figure. Therefore, to prove defamation, Leslie said, it would be necessary to prove that Lake acted with “actual malice.”
Leslie said it’s a legal term meaning she “knew something was untrue or recklessly ignored the truth.” He said it was an “incredibly high standard” aimed at protecting free speech and ensuring healthy public debate.
“Courts are not there to enforce politeness or to keep people from embarrassing or being treated disrespectfully,” Leslie said. “If we are to be able to discuss important issues publicly, we have to tolerate some discomfort and even the presence of misinformation.”
Richer will be represented by Daniel Maynard, an attorney at Phoenix-based Maynard, Cronin, Erickson & Curran, who specializes in commercial and civil litigation.
Maricopa County Judge Jay Adleman has been appointed to preside over the case. He was first appointed to the bench in 2013 by former Republican Governor Jean Brewer.
The court is not yet scheduled to hear the case.
Sasha Hapka covers regional issues in Maricopa County, Pinal County, and the Republic of Arizona.Do you have any tips for her to share?Contact her sasha.hupka@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter: @SashaHupka.
