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.
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! 🇺🇸https://t.co/DXTi4WoEQ3 pic.twitter.com/ik5sSqMz5P
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) February 16, 2023
The court of appeals conferenced Lake’s case on February 1st, and the opinion was penned by Chief Judge Kent Cattani with presiding Judges Maria Cruz and Peter Swann. Lake filed her election contest following the 2022 election, claiming that issues and foul play tainted the results and that she was the rightful winner. Only two of her original ten claims went to trial: tabulation and printer issues changed the election’s outcome, and Maricopa County violated ballot chain-of-custody procedures.
The new opinion discusses these two claims, which the Maricopa County Superior Court previously dismissed. For the tabulator/printer claim, Cattani wrote that Lake’s evidence regarding misconduct was disputable and agreed with the lower court’s opinion that the issues resulted from mechanical malfunctions, not malicious intent. Additionally, the court stated that Lake did not provide evidence that any voters whose ballot was not accepted by an onsite tabulator would be unable to vote.
“Lake’s claim thus boils down to a suggestion that election-day issues led to long lines at vote centers, which frustrated and discouraged voters, which allegedly resulted in a substantial number of predominately Lake voters not voting,” wrote Cattani.
On day two in court, Lake’s final expert witness, pollster Richard Baris, argued that voters were disenfranchised in November. He conducted an exit poll in the 2022 general election, but only 72 percent of Election Day voters filled out the poll. Baris stated this disparity was unusual and claimed Election Day chaos caused people not to vote, which caused Lake to lose the election.
However, the court of appeals argued that Baris failed to effectively bridge “any individual’s alleged failure to vote to the printer/tabulator issues” or provide evidence that constituents did not vote because county officials deprived them an opportunity to.
As for the chain-of-custody claim, Cattani again said it did not make the cut. Heather Honey, an election integrity expert, testified in court that election day drop-off ballots did not have proper chain-of-custody while being transferred by Maricopa County to a third-party company called Runbeck. Yet, the Court of Appeals argued that Maricopa County officials were able to prove that the necessary forms existed during the trial. Moreover, even if Lake’s claims were valid, the court said she still did not provide enough evidence to prove that any breaches in the proper election process affected the final election results.
Additionally, the court of appeals reviewed the lower court’s ruling to dismiss Lake’s other claims before trial but reaffirmed that court’s decision.
“Lake’s arguments highlight election-day difficulties, but her request for relief fails because the evidence presented to the superior court ultimately supports the court’s conclusion that voters were able to cast their ballots, that votes were counted correctly, and that no other basis justifies setting aside the election results,” wrote Cattani.
However, the court also denied Hobbs’s request for an award of attorney’s fees on the appeal because “she offered no substantive basis for the award.”
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Neil Jones is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Neil on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Kari Lake” by Kari Lake. Photo “Katie Hobbs” by Katie Hobbs.Â
