Former Senate and gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, R-Ariz., has settled a defamation lawsuit with Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer that centered on Lake’s false allegations that Richer helped steal the 2022 governor election.
Read the full storyTag: Stephen Richer
Concerns Increase of Election Fraud in Kari Lake’s Race, Massive Ballot Curing Effort Ongoing as Lake Warns Pima County
While the mainstream media has called every other state in the country for Donald Trump and almost all other candidates, Maricopa County and some other Arizona counties are still tabulating ballots several days after the election, leaving the results of the U.S. Senate race between Kari Lake and Ruben Gallego up in the air. In response, Turning Point USA and Lake supporters launched a massive ballot curing effort, and Lake sent a stern letter to Pima County about anomalies.
Arizona has not announced its presidential results even though Trump is leading by 6 points over Kamala Harris with 99 percent of precincts reporting. When Joe Biden ostensibly won the state in 2020 by 10,457 votes, or 49.4 percent to 49.1 percent, Fox News called the election for Biden on election night.
Read the full storyStephen Richer Ordered to Pay $25k to Merissa Hamilton for over 100,000 Documents He Required Her to Produce in Kari Lake Defamation Lawsuit
A trial court judge ordered Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer earlier this month to pay grassroots activist Merissa Hamilton $25,345.50 for the costs of over 100,000 documents she produced in response to a subpoena from him.
Richer sued Republican Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake for defamation last year over remarks she made accusing him of intentionally inserting 300,000 ballots into the 2022 election. As part of the lawsuit, he subpoenaed documents from Hamilton and others. The ballots in question lacked a chain of custody, which is a class 2 misdemeanor.
Read the full storyAmerica First Legal Sues Maricopa County for Refusing to Remove Noncitizens and Illegal Immigrants from Their Voter Rolls Before the Election
America First Legal (AFL) filed a lawsuit on Monday against Maricopa County, including Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, for failing to remove noncitizens and illegal immigrants from their voter rolls. AFL sent letters to election officials in all 15 Arizona counties in July, demanding they fulfill their legal obligations within a week or AFL would sue them.
The complaint says 35,273 registered voters in Arizona had failed to provide proof of citizenship and were registered as federal-only voters as of April 2024, a number that continues to increase, according to a report from Maricopa County. That report revealed that between April 1 and July 3, the numbers increased from 21,595 to 26,108, a jump of 21 percent. Additionally, the complaint cited a July 2024 survey of likely voters in Arizona and five other states, which found that over 1 percent said they are not U.S. citizens. AFL stated that recent races in Arizona have been decided by margins of less than 1 percent.
Read the full storyMaricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer Ousted in GOP Primary
Arizona State Representative Justin Heap (R-Mesa) defeated incumbent Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer in the Republican primary election on Tuesday.
Read the full storyFirst Ballot Tallies in Arizona’s GOP Primary Election, Which Skew Moderate, Show Kari Lake, Abe Hamadeh in the Lead
The results of Arizona’s 2024 Republican primary election began trickling in at 8 p.m. election night, with Kari Lake well in the lead for U.S. Senate against Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, and Abe Hamadeh easily leading in the race for Congress in CD8. Out of about 309,000 ballots, Lake received 53.3 percent and Lamb 40.6 percent. Hamadeh garnered 29.7 percent, with the next closest candidate, Blake Masters, at 23 percent.
The first round of results favored more moderate candidates in the Republican primary, since county recorders’ offices count early ballots first. The grassroots conservative base votes heavily on Election Day due to concerns about election fraud.
Read the full storyGOP State Senator May Be Holding Up Arizona Legislature from Sending Election Integrity Measure to Ballot
The Arizona Legislature is considering sending an election integrity measure to the ballot this fall.
HCR 2056 was debated in the Senate Elections Committee last week. The bill would require voters to show photo ID when dropping ballots off. All early ballots dropped off will be tabulated at the voting location where they were submitted. Seven counties already do that. The bill also prohibits election officials from accepting funds from foreign entities to help administer an election.
Read the full storyElection Chaos Threatens Maricopa County Recorder’s Reelection Prospects
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer faces reelection, going up against two primary opponents and a Democratic challenger. Conservatives are furious at his denials that there was significant wrongdoing in the 2020 and 2022 elections, but he may lose reelection based on merely long lines and voting complications, which frustrated voters.
Voters encountered problems casting their ballots at 70 of the 223 vote centers in Maricopa County on Election Day in 2022, resulting in long lines and concerns that ballots were not tabulated or misread.
Read the full storyKari Lake’s Attorneys Send Letter to Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer Regarding Settling His Defamation Lawsuit
Kari Lake agreed earlier this month to settle the defamation lawsuit against her filed by Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, citing the enormous cost it would take to go through a full trial. Her attorneys sent a letter on Monday to Richer’s attorneys regarding Richer’s proposed meet and confer terms, rejecting all three proposals from him, at times sarcastically.
Lake is running for the U.S. Senate and still fighting two election lawsuits, one over her loss in the gubernatorial race and another challenging the use of voting machine tabulators in elections. Richer filed a defamation lawsuit against her for stating that he intentionally sabotaged the 2022 election. Approximately 300,000 ballots in the 2022 election lacked a chain of custody, a class 2 misdemeanor, but the county has strenuously fought litigation efforts to allow Lake to inspect the ballot affidavit envelopes and other requests from her and voter integrity groups related to the election anomalies.
Read the full storyMaricopa County Elections Official Stephen Richer Wants to Use AI in Arizona Elections
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer wants a private contractor to use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to optimize his office, according to an online advertisement seeking contractors.
The web listing, made on behalf of the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office, reveals Richer “is seeking a contractor to provide a solution to improve processes around document identification, data extraction, and comparing handwritten signature images with on-file signature images by way of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).”
Read the full storyKari Lake Endorses Justin Heap for Maricopa County Recorder
Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake has endorsed State Representative Justin Heap’s (R-Mesa) campaign for Maricopa County Recorder.
Read the full storyState Representative Justin Heap Enters Race for Maricopa County Recorder, Cites 300,000 Disenfranchised Republican Voters in 2022
State Representative Justin Heap (R-Mesa) announced at the State Capitol during a press conference on Wednesday that he will enter the Republican primary race for Maricopa County Recorder, challenging incumbent Stephen Richer.
Richer has come under extensive criticism for maintaining that there were only minor problems during the 2022 election, fighting back through the courts against attempts to obtain public records about the election and other related election integrity lawsuits.
Read the full storyArizona Supreme Court Intervenes in Recorder’s Defamation Case Against Kari Lake; Puts Proceedings on Hold to Consider Early Appeal
The Arizona Supreme Court has placed a defamation lawsuit that Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer filed against Kari Lake on hold. The court said no more proceedings in the lawsuit can take place in the trial court until Richer responds to Lake’s Petition for Review she filed with the higher court. While higher courts don’t usually intervene until a case has made its way through trial court proceedings, Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law First Amendment Clinic joined Lake in her defense requesting that the lawsuit be dismissed, a sign the clinic may believe Richer’s lawsuit is without merit.
Lake told The Arizona Sun Times, “This is a censorship case — pure and simple. The government official suing me is being represented by Obama- and Soros-linked attorneys. Stephen Richer ran banana-Republic style elections in Maricopa County and he doesn’t want to be held accountable. His use of tyrannical lawfare is an assault on our freedom of speech and is election interference designed to distract me from the very important United States Senate race where I am the leading candidate. He is OK with the First Amendment being trampled so he can save face.”
Read the full storyJudge Allows Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer’s Defamation Lawsuit Against Kari Lake for Accusing Him of Election Improprieties to Proceed
A defamation lawsuit that Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer filed against Kari Lake is being allowed to proceed, despite the fact Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law First Amendment Clinic joined Lake in her defense requesting that the lawsuit be dismissed. Richer’s lawsuit, which is being paid for by the Protect Democracy Project, accused Lake of falsely stating that he intentionally sabotaged the election. Approximately 300,000 ballots in the 2022 election lacked a chain of custody, a class 2 misdemeanor, but the county has strenuously fought litigation efforts to allow Lake to inspect the ballot affidavit envelopes and other requests from her and voter integrity groups related to the election anomalies.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jay Adleman, who heard oral arguments on Lake’s Motion to Dismiss on December 19, issued his ruling denying the motion that same day. He indicated he already found Lake guilty without putting on a trial first. “In the Court’s view, Defendant Lake’s statements are ‘provably false’ under prevailing Arizona law,” he said.
Read the full storyGrassroots Activist: Republicans Disproportionately Disenfranchised in ‘Absolute Chaos’ on Election Day in Maricopa County After Being Told Polls Would be Open Later Than They Were
Voters became angry on Election Day in Maricopa County after they showed up at the polls and found them closed already. Grassroots conservative activist Merissa Hamilton reported Tuesday evening that dozens of voters said they were told by the Maricopa County Recorder’s office that the polls closed at 7 p.m. However, eight polling locations closed at 4:30 p.m., which is “at least 17 percent” of the county’s locations, according to Hamilton who denounced it as “complete voter disenfranchisement!” Since Republicans are far more likely to vote in person on Election Day than Democrats, it disproportionately affected them.
Read the full storyArizona Election Fraud Deniers Hold Event Discussing Election Reform, Andrew Yang Warns of Arizona Ushering in a ‘Dark, Authoritarian Government’
A group of leading election fraud deniers spoke at an event in downtown Phoenix put on by the civic organization Arizona Talks. The forum was moderated by Steve Goldstein, a longtime PBS host who recently moved on to join Save Democracy AZ, which is pushing open primaries. The panelists consisted of failed Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, and Jackie Salit, president of Independent Voting.
Goldstein said he supports rank-choice voting. He said since the Arizona Legislature isn’t getting the reforms passed that he wants, he recommends a version of ranked-choice voting to select legislators and members of Congress since he said their seats are gerrymandered — that picks the top two for those offices. He complained that members of the two parties no longer cross the aisle to vote with the other side, implying that the Republicans in the legislature aren’t compromising as much as they used to. The 2023 legislature is one of the most conservative in recent years, with several brand-new legislators scoring at the top of conservative ratings.
Read the full story2022 Election Disputes Continue to Wind Through U.S. Courts as 2024 Nears
While former Arizona GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake continues with election-related lawsuits regarding irregularities in Maricopa County, there were also other issues during the 2022 midterm elections that occurred across the country.
Read the full storyTrial Begins over Maricopa County’s Refusal to Let Kari Lake Examine Ballot Envelope Signatures
A trial began on Thursday over a lawsuit Kari Lake filed against Maricopa County objecting to its refusal to allow her to use public records law to inspect ballot affidavits, which are signatures from voters on the mail-in envelopes for their ballots. A significant portion of Lake’s ongoing election lawsuit alleges that ballots were counted without adequate signature verification. Much of the testimony consisted of going over other ways signatures are public, such as on recorded deeds.
Lake posted on X, “This is a big day in our fight to restore transparency to Arizona’s elections. Ballot envelopes are legal affidavits. A judge already informed Maricopa County that he is ‘not convinced that the ballot affidavit is a voter registration record.’ He’s right. They contain the same PUBLIC information that people divulge when they sign petitions. There is no privacy exception applicable here. We The People have EVERY right to evaluate the signatures. We are excited to make our case before the court today.”
Read the full storyArizona State University Joins Kari Lake’s Motion to Dismiss Stephen Richer’s Defamation Complaint Against Her
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer filed a defamation lawsuit in June against Kari Lake on June 22 over her statements alleging election fraud in Maricopa County, and now ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law First Amendment Clinic is joining Lake in her defense. The clinic co-authored a motion to dismiss with Lake’s attorneys, which was filed on August 21.
Jennifer Wright, one of Lake’s attorneys who previously served as the Election Integrity Unit civil attorney for the Attorney General’s Office, said in a statement provided to The Arizona Sun Times, “In 2022, the legislature strengthened laws protecting the rights of citizens to speak freely on matters of public concern. Richer’s lawsuit is precisely the kind of abuse of the legal system the law was designed to stop. I have every confidence the court will agree, and dismiss the lawsuit.”
Read the full storyVerity Vote Issues Report on Numerous Chain-of-Custody Problems by Maricopa County During 2022 Election
Maricopa County failed to maintain chain-of-custody records for hundreds of thousands of early ballots dropped off at third-party contractor Runbeck Election Services, and a new report is out analyzing the extent of the illegal behavior, which is a class 2 misdemeanor. Election integrity organization Verity Vote issued its analysis last week.
The report observed that then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs admonished Cochise County prior to the 2022 election about deviating from the state’s Election Procedures Manual. Yet “just one month later, Hobbs chose to disregard Maricopa County’s admitted deviations from the EPM and violations of law as she oversaw and certified her own election.” Verity Vote asserted that documents “long withheld” were finally produced revealing the lack of chain of custody, and “Maricopa officials misled the court about the process and the records.”
Read the full storyCandidate for Maricopa County Recorder Steven Hines Identifies Areas of Improvement for Early Voting
Arizona Republican businessman and candidate for Maricopa County Recorder in 2024, Steven Hines, has started identifying and listing specific ideas on how to improve the early voting process in Maricopa County.
Hines announced his candidacy for the position last week stating that if voters choose him as Maricopa County Recorder for 2024 he would “vastly improve” voting accuracy, security, and traceability.
Read the full storyRepublican Businessman Steven Hines First to Announce Candidacy for Maricopa County Recorder
Arizona Republican businessman Steven Hines announced his candidacy for Maricopa County Recorder in 2024.
Hines says his “General objective is to help heal the divide” in Maricopa County “By rebuilding trust in the recorder’s office by way of accountability, professionalism, and transparency.”
Read the full storyJudge Grants Injunction Against Censorship of ‘Conservative’ Election Information, Which Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer Participated In
A U.S. District Court judge granted an injunction Tuesday stopping the Biden administration from working with social media companies to censor information about elections, COVID-19, Hunter Biden’s laptop, and other “conservative” speech. Similarly, in 2022, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer worked with Biden’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, to “manipulate elections,” Trump attorney Christina Bobb tweeted last December. The Biden administration immediately filed a notice of appeal.
In his 155-page opinion, Judge Terry Doughty observed that the censorship was directed at conservatives. “It is quite telling that each example or category of suppressed speech was conservative in nature,” he said. “This targeted suppression of conservative ideas is a perfect example of viewpoint discrimination of political speech. American citizens have the right to engage in free debate about the significant issues affecting the country.”
Read the full storyStephen Richer, Who Sued Kari Lake for Defamation over Election Fraud Allegations, Brought up Similar Concerns Previously
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer sued Kari Lake for defamation on June 22 over her statements alleging election fraud, but Merissa Hamilton, founder of EZAZ who is managing an effort to chase early ballots for Lake, pointed out that Richer has made similar allegations himself previously. The Maricopa County Recorder’s lawsuit is being paid for by the Protect Democracy Project, which is described by InfluenceWatch as “a left-of-center litigation organization created to oppose the policies of President Donald Trump.”
Read the full storyMaricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer Testifies During Third Day of Disbarment Trial of Trump Attorney John Eastman
The third day of the State Bar of California (SBC) disbarment trial of Trump attorney John Eastman took place on Thursday, with the SBC calling Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and Jonathan Marks, Deputy Secretary for Elections and Commissions in Pennsylvania, as witnesses. Richer is a Republican who started a PAC for election fraud-denying Republicans, and Marks was appointed to the position under then-Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Kathryn Boockvar, a Democrat.
Attorneys for Eastman and the SBC conducted direct and cross-examination of the two witnesses. Shortly into the direct examination of Richer, as he began testifying about his confidence regarding Dominion voting machine tabulators, Eastman’s attorney Randy Miller expressed his concern to the SBC disciplinary Judge Yvette Roland that she was allowing the SBC’s witnesses like Richer to present one side but not allowing Eastman’s witnesses to testify on the same topic. He said it was “quite prejudicial,” only “getting half the story.” Roland did not change her mind.
Read the full storyWe the People AZ Alliance Sues Maricopa County for Failing to Provide Ballot Envelopes for Public Records Request
We the People AZ Alliance (WPAA) filed a lawsuit against Maricopa County on April 25 for refusing to fulfill their public records request for ballot envelopes containing signatures from the 2022 election. The Verified Complaint for Statutory Special Action to Secure Access to Public Records From Defendants stated that the public records request was submitted on April 5 and denied by the county on April 10.
WPAA tweeted about the rejection on Wednesday, “A.R.S. 16-168(F) is not a catch to hide information from the public. Signatures are filed on deeds, court documents and licenses and made public. Ballot affidavit envelopes are not by design part of a voter record, we are committed to bringing the truth to light.”
Read the full storyMaricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes Discuss Adding More Ballot Drop Boxes
Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, whose victory is being challenged by Republican candidate Mark Finchem, hosted a panel discussion with election fraud denier Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer this week.
ABC-15 Data Analyst Garrett Archer moderated the event at the Valley Bar in Phoenix, the bipartisan pair discussed the 2022 midterm election.
Read the full storyPacked Crowd Attends Kari Lake Rally Exposing Voter Disenfranchisement in Maricopa County
At a standing-room-only event Sunday, Kari Lake signaled she is not giving up her legal battle to install her as the rightful Arizona governor instead of Democrat Katie Hobbs. Lake held a Save Arizona rally at Orange Tree Golf Club in Scottsdale with over a thousand in attendance, assuring her supporters she intended to fight until the “victorious end.” The mainstream media recently ran stories claiming Lake was switching her focus to running against Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ).
Lake focused her entire speech on election fraud. “They thought they could steal it and we would just go away,” she said to thunderous applause. “We had the greatest candidates in the country here in Arizona. We were running against some of the worst candidates in the history of Arizona. It didn’t matter if they rolled out brain-dead candidates,” she said, alluding to election fraud ensuring the Democrats’ victories. “The fix was in. They knew they didn’t have to campaign.”
Read the full storyMaricopa County GOP Censures Republican Maricopa County Supervisors, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer over Election Integrity at Annual Meeting
The Maricopa County Republican Committee voted on January 14 at their annual meeting to censure Maricopa County Stephen Richer and the four Republican members of the Maricopa County Supervisors; Bill Gates, Thomas Galvin, Clint Hickman and Jack Sellers. The vote for the censure resolution was 1,460 for, 138 against, and 36 abstaining.
Maricopa County Member-at-Large Brian Ference told The Arizona Sun Times, “The PCs in Maricopa have spoken, overwhelmingly censuring Richer and the MCBOS, the key line being ‘Ceases immediately any and all recognition and support of the above individuals being censured and encourages all registered Republicans to expel them permanently from office.’”
Read the full storyWe the People AZ Alliance Says No to Stephen Richer’s Elections Improvement Plan
Shelby Busch, chairman of the We the People AZ Alliance (WTPAZ), released a statement Tuesday, picking apart and rejecting a proposal introduced by Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, which presented ideas on improving elections in Arizona.
“I encourage Maricopa County voters to immediately reject this plan and tell Mr. Richer that we deserve secure elections not convenient elections,” said Busch.
Read the full storyLeahy to Bannon: If Maricopa Fails to Document Chain of Custody, Lake Lawyers Must Prove It Altered Outcome of Election to Win Trial
Host Stephen K. Bannon welcomed The Star News Network’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Arizona Sun-Times, Michael Patrick Leahy, on Thursday’s WarRoom: Battleground to highlight aspects of the ongoing election integrity lawsuit put forth by gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and the alleged Maricopa County ballot harvesting.
Read the full storyWATCH LIVE: Day Two of Landmark Election Challenge by Kari Lake
Watch day two of the Kari Lake election contest trial livestream.
Read the full storyWATCH LIVE: Trial Underway in Landmark Election Challenge by Kari Lake
Watch the Karil Lake election contest trial livestream.
Read the full storyTop Maricopa Election Offices Couldn’t Reconcile 15k Disparity in Outstanding Votes: Internal Email
Recently disclosed internal communications between top election officials in Arizona’s Maricopa County in the immediate aftermath of Election Day reveal that they struggled to reconcile a discrepancy of almost 16,000 in outstanding ballot totals.
The governor’s race in Arizona was decided by a margin of just over 17,000 votes.
Read the full storyKari Lake Lawsuit Exposes Election Process Complexities in Maricopa County, Reliance on Third-Party Vendor
A lawsuit filed Friday by Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake contesting the results in the November 8, 2022, election in Maricopa County exposes, among other things, the complexities of the process for mail-in and drop-box ballots and the county’s reliance on a third-party vendor for essential election functions.
The 70-page complaint filed by Lake named Democratic gubernatorial opponent Katie Hobbs who is the Secretary of State of Arizona who certified the election in her favor on December 5, as well as Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer as an officer in charge of elections, Maricopa County Director of Elections for Election Day and Emergency Voting Scott Jarrett and the five members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Read the full storyMaricopa County Recorder Sought DHS Support in War on Purported Election Misinformation in Media
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, who started a PAC to support anti-Trump Republican candidates, sought support from the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) — including funding, intelligence, and collaboration with social media — in election officials’ often controversial efforts to combat purported election misinformation, according to a newly released internal agency report.
On Wednesday, Christina Bobb, attorney for Donald Trump for President 2024, posted a CISA report on Twitter recapping Richer’s March appearance before the DHS agency’s Protecting Critical Infrastructure from Misinformation and Disinformation Subcommittee to brief the members on combating election misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation.
Read the full storyElection Integrity Network Releases Extensive List of Discrepancies Reported in Maricopa County Midterm Election, Slams Officials for ‘Misinformation’
The Election Integrity Network (EIN) has compiled a list of reports from election workers, poll watchers, and volunteer attorneys about questionable things they observed during Maricopa County’s midterm election, which experienced rampant tabulation machine and printer problems. EIN Chairman and election integrity attorney Cleta Mitchell denounced Maricopa County officials for “misinformation” regarding how bad the problems really were.
Cleta said, “Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates, Director of Elections Scott Jarrett, and County Recorder Steven Richer presided over a wholly mismanaged and disgraceful election on November 8 that has robbed countless voters of their political voices. Since the polls opened on Election Day, they have misled and misinformed the public about what really happened. But thanks to engaged citizens, we know the truth.”
Read the full storyMaricopa County Certifies Election Results Despite Legal Threats
Election results are being challenged in Maricopa County, but the results have been certified.
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors met on Monday to certify the Canvass of the 2022 November General Election.
Read the full storyNo Financial Data Reported for Maricopa County Recorder Richer’s PAC Since October 22, Two Weeks Prior to Election
While Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer is coming under increased scrutiny for his founding and operation of a political action committee (PAC), the next required opportunity for the public’s visibility on his PAC’s activity is mid-January nearly two months after he sought to influence the November 8 general election.
According to the Arizona Secretary of State website regarding campaign finance reporting dates, filings for the post-general election period of October 23 to December 31, 2022, are not due until the earliest date of January 1 and not later than January 17, 2023.
Read the full storyMaricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer’s Founding of Partisan PAC Raises Ethical and Legal Questions of Possible Misconduct
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer is coming under increasing scrutiny after the botched election in Maricopa County, leading some to question his founding and operation of the Pro-Democracy Republicans PAC, whose stated mission is “to support pro-democracy Arizona Republicans” who reject “conspiracy theorists and demagoguery” from candidates who maintain the 2020 presidential election in Arizona was stolen. In the context of the 2022 election, this is an indication of Richer’s direct opposition to GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, GOP Secretary of State nominee Mark Finchem, several state legislators and candidates for Maricopa County Supervisor.
Read the full storyMaricopa County Voting Centers Plagued with Tabulation Errors on Election Day Affected Areas Averaging Well Over 300 Percent More Republicans Than Democrats
Voters encountered problems casting their ballots at 70 of the 223 vote centers in Maricopa County on Election Day, November 8, 2022, resulting in long lines and concerns that ballots ended up not tabulated or “misread,” and commingled with ballots that had already been tabulated. Averaged together, the problems occurred in areas where Election Day voting was more than 300 percent Republican versus Democrat. Of those 70 precincts affected, 59 were in heavily Republican-voting areas, and two were Republican-leaning but not heavily, with only nine from Democrat-leaning or solidly Democrat areas.
Read the full storyKari Lake Receives 54 Percent of Sunday Night Ballots from Maricopa County, 69 Percent from Pinal County
Election officials released updated results Sunday evening showing Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake gained ground on frontrunner Democrat Katie Hobbs in Maricopa County by 54.6 to 45.4 percent. In Pinal County, Lake bested Hobbs 69.5 percent to 30.5 percent.
In all, the votes of little more than 97,000 of the estimated 192,900 remaining ballots from Maricopa County were tabulated – meaning about 94,000 ballots remain. In Pinal County, an estimated 10,000 ballots are untabulated.
Read the full storyCalls Emerge for Maricopa County Officials to Resign or Be Recalled After Election Problems
Activists are calling for resignations and recalls as Arizonans – along with the nation – await Maricopa County election officials’ announcements of the definitive results from Tuesday’s 2022 general election.
The state’s most populous county said that 30 percent of voting machine tabulation problems, causing lines of up to two hours in places. Maricopa County Member-at-Large Brian Ference says wants Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and Bill Gates, chair of the Maricopa County Supervisors, to resign. Robert Canterbury, who unsuccessfully ran against Maricopa County Supervisor Clint Hickman in 2020, is considering starting a recall against Gates, prompting State Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward to respond, “Let me know how I can help.”
Read the full storyMaricopa County District Supervisor Thanks DOJ for Arresting Man Allegedly Involved in Election Threat
Maricopa County District 4 Republican Supervisor Clint Hickman thanked the Department of Justice (DOJ) Thursday for arresting one Mark Rissi for making violent threats against Hickman and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office (AGO).
“I remember exactly where I was when I heard that voicemail. It was chilling. This wasn’t a prank call. This wasn’t protected speech. This was a serious threat to me and my family. I’m grateful to the Department of Justice and the FBI for taking this case seriously and making an arrest,” Hickman said.
Read the full storyDispute Arises Within Maricopa County GOP Over Member-at-Large Revealing Who Voted Against Censuring Recorder Stephen Richer
After the Maricopa County Republican Committee (MCRC) censured Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican, over election integrity failures including denying there was election fraud in 2020, the author of the censure has found himself in hot water. Member-at-large Brian Ference responded to an inquiry in a Telegram channel for Maricopa County precinct committeemen (PCs) asking who voted against the censure. He provided a list of names in the channel — but also included their email addresses and phone numbers, prompting a stern email from the MCRC’s attorney.
Ference issued an apology for including the contact information, but told The Arizona Sun Times he didn’t regret sharing the names, because it exposed “Entrenched establishment Republicans who have proved again and again they offer little to no opposition to Democrats, but instead fight like hellcats against America First MAGA Republicans.”
Read the full storyMaricopa County Officials Declare ‘Election Is Over’ as Newly Revealed Records Show 19,000 Ballots Were Counted After 2020 Election Day Deadline
Maricopa County election officials ignored questions Friday about an 11-page report by an election integrity group that say they discovered 20,500 ballots were received by the Maricopa County Recorder’s office — and subsequently counted — after the legal deadline of 7 p.m. on Election Day, November 3, 2020. Only 934 of those ballots, the groups says, were rejected for lateness. Joe Biden was certified the winner of Arizona by 10,457 votes.
The Arizona Sun Times asked the recorder’s office several questions regarding the ballots, including why they had difficulty producing the ballot receipts for months; why the late ballots were tabulated; whether there were really only 934 ballots rejected for being late; and why there were no records indicating whether ballots received the day after the election were transferred to the Maricopa County Treasurer.
Read the full storyMaricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer Creates PAC to Back GOP Fraud-Deniers
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican who has been very public with his opinion that there was no voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, has formed a PAC to support Republican candidates who also believe there was no voter fraud. Called Pro-Democracy Republicans of Arizona, the only interview he appears to have given about it is to the far left Arizona Mirror.
The Arizona Sun Times asked him why he was so opposed to investigating the 2020 election for voter fraud, and he responded, “I was consistently opposed to conspiracy theorist partisans with no election experience doing a review.” He referred The Times to a letter he wrote in August.
Read the full story