Phoenix (3TV/CBS 5) — Maricopa County election officials are taking legal action against former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake after media coverage of the 2022 election. Maricopa County Registrar Stephen Richer filed a defamation lawsuit Thursday against Lake, Lake for Arizona, and Save Arizona Fund, Inc., a company that raises money for Lake.
according to A 104-page lawsuit was filed Thursday in Maricopa County Superior CourtRicher pursues Lake with two central allegations regarding the 2022 Maricopa County election.
“Ballot-Size Sabotage”
Richer alleges that Lake repeatedly spread lies and intentionally printed 19-inch images on 20-inch ballots to clog electronic tally machines all day. In Richer’s second allegation, Lake said he believed he inserted 300,000 illegal early ballots into the system to change the outcome of the election, due to a jammed tally machine. ing. The complaint alleges that Lake spread these lies at rallies, speeches, podcasts and social media.
Richer’s lawyers allege that Lake’s campaign and fundraisers supported the false statements to raise funds.
According to the complaint, registrar Stephen Richer is pursuing Kari Lake on two major allegations related to the 2022 Maricopa County election.
“Know Malicious Falsehood”
Lawyers allege in the lawsuit that Richer and her family have been targeted with ongoing death threats and face-to-face confrontations stemming from lies spread by Lake and her campaign. The allegation goes on to say that Richer and his wife have spent thousands of dollars on improving security in their home, along with increased patrols by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) and the Phoenix Police Department. Richer has publicly stated many times that he is not responsible for running Election Day. The Maricopa County Registrar’s Office is responsible for many tasks leading up to Election Day, including registering voters and maintaining voter files. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is responsible for direct voting on Election Day and the weekend before Election Day.
Examples of false claims
Richer’s legal team included dozens of pages containing copies of tweets and mailers of Lake and her campaign to spread false claims. The lawsuit includes three libel allegations relating to accusations of ballot-sized sabotage and two libel allegations relating to accusations of illegal ballot filling.
Mr. Richer seeks ordinary, compensatory, and punitive damages, as well as legal costs. Richer is also asking the court to order all references to the size of the ballots and allegations of illegal ballot injection removed from websites and social media accounts.
Arizona’s family has reached out to Kari Lake, her campaign and fundraiser for comment on the lawsuit. After hours of not hearing from her, Lake posted a tweet responding to her lawsuit.
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