Tag: Election Challenge

Independent Audit by Arizona Election Integrity Group Says Hundreds of Provisional Ballots from Republicans Remain Uncounted: ‘Abe Hamadeh Won the Attorney General’s Race’

Rachel Alexander

We the People AZ Alliance (WPAA), a leading election integrity group in Arizona, has been looking into ballots that were not counted in Arizona’s 2022 election. Co-founder Shelby Busch issued a video last week revealing that the group found hundreds of instances involving people who said they voted for Abe Hamadeh but their ballots were not counted, more than the 280 votes he lost the attorney general’s race by. However, Busch told The Arizona Sun Times that the courts refuse to consider the new evidence.

Busch said in the video, “Abe Hamadeh won the attorney general’s race. I’m going to outline for you the evidence behind how Kris Mayes was installed as the illegitimate attorney general. … Our evidence in Abe’s case shows that thousands of Arizona voters were disenfranchised on Election Day in violation of the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, and Katie Hobbs, the secretary of state and the counties know about these voters and have done nothing to correct it.”

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Abe Hamadeh and AZ Voters Rights File Lawsuit Against Maricopa County Demanding Decertification of 2022 Election in Attorney General’s Race

Rachel Alexander

Abe Hamadeh and AZ Voters Rights filed a Complaint in Special Action against Maricopa County this week demanding that the court issue a writ of mandamus ordering the county to decertify the Maricopa County and Arizona canvass for the 2022 General Election race for attorney general. Hamadeh has been challenging the outcome of his loss in that race in court, uncovering evidence during the litigation of votes that were not counted, decreasing his loss to only 280 votes. The trial court judge refused to give him a new trial based on the newfound evidence, which he has appealed.

The complaint, which was drafted by attorney Ryan Heath of The Gavel Project, argued that votes “were not counted due to various wrongful acts by Maricopa County officials — which disproportionately impacted Election Day voters, the majority of whom were Republicans and conservative leaning independent voters.” 

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Abe Hamadeh Files Opening Brief with Arizona Court of Appeals as New Information Comes Out About Voter Registrations Changed to Other Counties

Rachel Alexander

Abe Hamadeh filed his opening brief with the Arizona Court of Appeals last week, after Mohave Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen refused to grant him a new trial. Hamadeh requested the trial after discovering that then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs withheld evidence from him before his trial regarding undervotes, votes not counted that resulted in narrowing Democrat Kris Mayes’ lead in the attorney general’s race to only 280 votes.  

Much of Hamadeh’s brief also challenged the refusal of Maricopa County to allow him to examine provisional ballots. Over 9,000 provisional ballots have not been counted in his race. Many of them were cast by voters who found their voter registration mysteriously changed to another county. On Thursday, Hamadeh posted a chart on X showing how Maricopa and Pima Counties had a strikingly large number of provisional ballots.

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In Advance of Possible Trial, Kari Lake’s Attorney Tells Judge During Hearing That Election Was ‘Rigged’ with ‘Clear Misconduct and Intent’

Rachel Alexander

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson heard oral arguments Friday in Kari Lake’s election contest.

Thompson is considering a Motions to Dismiss filed by the defendants and a 263-page Motion for Relief from Judgment filed by Lake’s attorneys urging the court to bring back her second count regarding “illegal BOD printer/tabulator configurations,” which Thompson had previously dismissed.

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Arizona Supreme Court Declines to Sanction Kari Lake’s Attorneys, Issues Fine

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Supreme Court declined to award significant sanctions against Kari Lake’s attorneys for contesting the election results of the gubernatorial race. Instead, on Thursday the court ordered $2,000 in sanctions against her attorneys for asserting it was an “undisputed fact” that 35,563 ballots were inserted into the ballot counting process at Runbeck Election Systems. The court declined to award attorneys fees to her opponents.

The Arizona Supreme Court said in its opinion that Lake “repeatedly” asserted in pleadings that 35,563 ballots were “added” or “injected” at Runbeck. “Not only is that allegation strongly disputed by the other parties, this Court concluded and expressly stated that the assertion was unsupported by the record, and nothing in Lake’s Motion for Leave to file a motion for reconsideration provides reason to revisit that issue.”

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Kari Lake Confirms She’s Considering a Senate Run if Election Challenge Fails

Rachel Alexander

Rumors have been swirling that Kari Lake is seriously considering running for the U.S. Senate, challenging Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, and during an interview with Turning Point USA President Charlie Kirk she finally confirmed the suspicion as accurate. However, she emphasized that she will fully litigate the results of the gubernatorial election first.

During the interview earlier this month, Lake responded when asked if she was going to run for the seat, “Yes, I am entertaining it. I mean my number one priority is our court case, and I have full confidence in our court case and I hope we will get a judge to do the right thing.”

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Arizona Court of Appeals Sides with Katie Hobbs in Election Challenge

Neil Jones

The Arizona Court of Appeals officially sided with Go. Katie Hobbs (D) in the ongoing election challenge filed by Republican Kari Lake. However, Lake has already said this is not the end and that the Arizona Supreme Court is her next destination.

“BREAKING: I told you we would take this case all the way to the Arizona Supreme Court, and that’s exactly what we are going to do. Buckle up, America,” Lake tweeted.

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Abe Hamadeh’s Team Allegedly Delayed in Inspecting Maricopa County Adjudication Logs, Warns More Legal Action May Come

Neil Jones

Republican Abe Hamadeh shared Thursday that Maricopa County had allegedly delayed his team’s efforts to inspect the County’s adjudication log from the 2022 election following a public records request.

“Maricopa County told my team that they were available for inspections this week. After we arrived yesterday morning the County kicked us out after just one hour. Maricopa County continues to obstruct and conceal – my team is prepared for litigation,” tweeted Hamadeh.

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Kari Lake Responds to Rumor She Is Considering Running for U.S. Senate

Rachel Alexander

Kari Lake is appealing the dismissal of her lawsuit contesting the results of a botched election for Arizona governor, which placed her opponent, Democrat Katie Hobbs, in office, but rumors are swirling in the mainstream media that she is moving on and considering running for U.S. Senate.

The rumors began when CNN reporter Kate Sullivan tweeted on Monday, “I’m told Kari Lake is considering running for the US Senate seat held by Kyrsten Sinema in 2024.” Newsweek published an article titled, “Kari Lake Might Have Finally Given up Her Hopes of Becoming Governor.”

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Arizona Court of Appeals to Expedites Kari Lake’s Election Challenge Appeal

Neil Jones

The Arizona Court of Appeals has set a date of February 1st for conferencing on Kari Lake’s lawsuit attempting to overturn the results of the 2022 General election.

“Our appeal is scheduled to be heard before the court on February 1st. Do not underestimate @KariLake’s desire to get justice for the people of Arizona. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. She will see this through,” tweeted the Lake campaign.

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Attorney Files Lawsuit Against Judge Who Dismissed Kari Lake’s Election Contest

Rachel Alexander

Ryan Heath, an attorney who started The Gavel Project to engage in lawfare against woke ideology, has filed a lawsuit against the judge who dismissed Kari Lake’s election lawsuit. Submitted on Monday, the Writ of Mandamus demands that Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson vacate his ruling and award the election to Lake.

Heath told The Arizona Sun Times he doesn’t really know where Thompson came up with the really high bar he required Lake’s attorneys to prove in order to overturn the election. Thompson required showing by clear and convincing evidence that the misconduct was intentional and meant to change the election, was performed by one of the appropriate people in charge, and that it changed the election. Heath said this was the wrong standard, he should have relied on Reyes v. Cuming, a 1997 Arizona case involving similar circumstances, where signatures on the envelopes were not compared to the voter registration list, violating a non-technical statute.

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Arizona Supreme Court Denies Kari Lake Request, Case Heads for Court of Appeals

Neil Jones

Arizona Supreme Court (ASC) Justice John R. Lopez released an opinion Wednesday evening denying Republican Kari Lake’s request to transfer her election challenge case directly to the ASC. Despite the denial, Lake remains undeterred in her legal battle.

“My court case will be going before the Appeals Court prior to the Arizona Supreme Court because it’s already been scheduled for review. This decision was done without prejudice & I am confident the case will end up in their hands eventually. We’re moving forward,” Lake tweeted.

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Abe Hamadeh Files for a New Trial While Kris Mayes Seeks Attorney’s Fees

Neil Jones

Despite the swearing-in of Kris Mayes as Attorney General (D), Republican Abe Hamadeh is not giving up his election contest just yet, filing a Motion for a New Trial Tuesday night in the Mohave County Superior Court.

“Today, I am filing a ‘Motion for New Trial’ after the shocking revelations from the recount. It’s simple, if the judge allows us to inspect and count the ballots – we win. Kris Mayes will either resign or be removed from office. Count the votes accurately,” said Hamadeh.

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Katie Hobbs Laughs at Constitutional Oath, Leads Democrats’ Takeover of Arizona

Neil Jones

On Monday, Democrat Katie Hobbs was sworn in to serve as the 24th Governor of Arizona at a ceremony closed off from the public and media, barring a news photographer. Joining her were other newly elected or re-elected officials, including Kris Mayes (D) for Attorney General, Adrian Fontes (D) for Secretary of State, Kimberly Yee (R) for State Treasurer, and Tom Horne (R) for Superintendent of Public Instruction.

The 2022 General Election results show that Hobbs won her race by 17,117 votes. However, her Republican opponent Kari Lake has refused to concede. Lake’s campaign called the system “screwed up” because Arizonans were allegedly disenfranchised in this election, but Hobbs was sworn into office anyway.

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Kari Lake Attorney Response to Motions for Sanctions; Says They will Further Erode Trust in Elections

Neil Jones

Following the dismissal of Kari Lake’s election challenge, Maricopa County, the Secretary of State’s Office (SOSO), and Democrat Governor-Elect Katie Hobbs all filed Motions for Sanctions and Applications for Attorney’s Fees Monday morning. Lake’s team responded, stating that sanctioning them in this trial would further erode trust in election systems.

“Trust in the election process is not furthered by punishing those who bring legitimate claims as Plaintiff did here. In fact, sanctioning Plaintiff would have the opposite effect,” according to a response from one of Lake’s attorneys, Bryan Blehm.

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Kari Lake Says Appeal Coming Following Dismissal from Superior Court Judge

Neil Jones

Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake had her election challenge completely dismissed by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson Saturday. Following the ruling, Lake tweeted that an appeal would be coming.

“My Election Case provided the world with evidence that proves our elections are run outside of the law. This Judge did not rule in our favor. However, for the sake of restoring faith and honesty in our elections, I will appeal his ruling,” tweeted Lake.

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Day Two of Kari Lake Election Challenge Trial Sees More Witnesses, Closing Arguments from Both Sides

Neil Jones

The court battle challenging the validity of the certified outcome of Arizona’s 2022 gubernatorial election entered its second day Thursday under Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson, with attorneys for Republican Kari Lake, Democrat Katie Hobbs, and Maricopa County presenting their final arguments in the trial. Lake seeks to either be declared the winner by the court in the gubernatorial race, in which she currently trails by roughly 17,000 votes, or require a new election. To do this, Lake’s team has to clear the high burden of demonstrating that intentional wrongdoing changed election outcomes. On the final day of the trial, Lake’s team brought in one witness, while the defendants presented four. Richard Baris The plaintiff’s first and final witness called to the stand was Richard Baris, director of Big Data Poll. He stated that Lake did not hire him before the election. “In over six years since we began releasing public polling on a steady basis in 2016, we have not inaccurately predicted the winner, outside of a sampling error, in a single poll. Not one,” said Baris. He conducted an exit poll in the Arizona 2022 General Election. Yet, on the morning of November 8th, he received…

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Day One of Kari Lake Election Contest Trial Sees Testimony from Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and Election Integrity Expert Heather Honey

Neil Jones

The first of two days of oral arguments from Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake’s challenge of the 2022 general election outcome began Wednesday morning, overseen by Judge Peter Thompson in the Maricopa County Superior Court. Testimonies were heard from several officials and experts.

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Kari Lake Celebrates Election Challenge Moving Forward at AmericaFest 2022, ‘Christmas Came Early Yesterday’

Neil Jones

PHOENIX, Arizona – While making another appearance at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2022 to an enthused crowd in downtown Phoenix, Republican Kari Lake shared her reaction to her election challenge officially going to trial.

“This is so historic, and you know what? I couldn’t have done it without you,” Lake said. “A little over a day ago, I stood here on this stage, and I said, please pray, not just for me, but pray for our attorneys, for our witnesses. Pray for the judge, my goodness! You did it, and yesterday we got great news, we are taking these bastards to court.”

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Phillip Kline Says Kari Lake’s Lawsuit Reveals ‘Serious Flaws’ in Maricopa County’s Handling of Election

Neil Jones

Former Kansas Attorney General Phillip Kline (R) shared his thoughts on Republican Kari Lake’s lawsuit contesting the 2022 General Election, saying the allegations shed light on severe issues in Maricopa County’s handling of the election.

“Despite media claims, Lake’s lawsuit reveals serious flaws in Maricopa’s handling of mail-in ballots-violations of procedures and possibly law. If the suit is dismissed it is due to gaps in AZ law, not lack of substance,” Kline tweeted in response to a New York Times article covering Lake’s lawsuit.

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Mark Finchem Files Lawsuit Contesting Election Results, Contends at Least 60,624 Ballots Were Not Counted in Maricopa County

Rachel Alexander

Three of the Trump-endorsed candidates in Arizona who lost their races filed lawsuits contesting the election results. Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, attorney general candidate Abe Hamadeh, and secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem all filed lawsuits on Friday.

Finchem’s complaint, which was filed jointly in Maricopa County Superior Court with Jeff Zink, a Republican candidate who lost his race challenging Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-07), named Gallego, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who was declared the gubernatorial winner over Lake, and incoming-Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, who defeated Finchem, as defendants.

Zink was later dropped from the complaint in an amended complaint filed on Monday.

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Kari Lake Files Election Challenge in Arizona Court

Just the News

Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake on Friday announced that she had filed an election challenge, alleging that the total number of illegal votes was greater than her opponent’s margin of victory.

Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs was certified as the winner of the state’s gubernatorial contest earlier this month. State law requires that election results be first certified before a candidate may file a challenge.

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Attorney General Mark Brnovich States He Will Defend Election Laws After Certifying the 2022 General Election

Neil Jones

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) released a statement Monday, a mere hours after certifying the canvass of the Arizona General Election, saying he will continue to enforce and defend Arizona’s election laws throughout his term.

“As we gather today to solidify the 2022 midterm election results, many Arizonans of all political persuasions continue to have doubts about our election processes,” said Brnovich. “As attorney general, I have made it one of my office’s highest priorities to defend our election laws and advocate for changes when necessary. I will continue to do so throughout the end of my term.”

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Election Lawsuits Pile up in Arizona, as Counties, Candidates Challenge 2022 Midterms

Just the News

As the 2022 midterm election is nearing certification in Arizona, lawsuits and court rulings are piling up amid continuing revelations of myriad failures in the administration of the election in Maricopa County.

After Maricopa experienced a host of problems on Election Day at many of its vote centers, one county subsequently chose not to certify its election by the Monday deadline, while another county certified “under duress,” according to two supervisors on the county board.

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Mohave County Supervisor Ron Gould Was Told He Must Certify Election by County Attorney and Secretary of State’s Office

Neil Jones

Ron Gould, a Mohave County Board of Supervisors (MCBOS) member, appeared in a video shared by the Kari Lake Campaign Monday, saying that he had been threatened with being arrested and facing a felony should he vote against canvassing the 2022 General Election. Gould told The Arizona Sun Times via the phone that this warning came to him partially from an official within his county.

“Actually, our county attorney [Matthew Smith] advised us that if we did not canvass by the deadline, that we would be in violation of ARS § [16]-642,” Gould said.

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