Arizona Supreme Court Agrees to ‘Expedite’ Kari Lake Lawsuit

After two lower courts had rejected the case, the Arizona Supreme Court agreed that a hearing would be held for Kari Lake, Republican Arizona’s candidate in an election suit.

Lake had submitted a “motion to expedite” They argued in the suit that such actions were needed “to resolve these issues is needed to safeguard Arizona voters’ right to free and equal elections.” March 3rd, the highest state court wrote Place an order “granting the motion for expedited consideration” Current Gov. Katie Hobbs, former secretary of State, and state agency have to reply by March 13.

“The Court anticipates considering the matter at an internal conference on March 21, 2023. At the conference, the Court will decide whether to accept review and schedule an oral argument,” This is the short order.

Lake, endorsed by former President Donald Trump, lost the November midterm election to Hobbs—a Democrat who was sworn in more than two months agos—by 17,000 votes, according to state data. Lake is a former television journalist and claims that Election Day had caused enough problems to suppress Republican voter turnout in Maricopa County. According to state data, either the contest needs to be repeated or the winner must be determined.

After a trial lasting two days in Lake’s initial lawsuit, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson denied her request for an election. He said that Lake’s team had not presented enough evidence to show she was being unfairly treated by Election Day issues. In February, Thompson rejected her appeal to the State Court of Appeals.

Arguments

Lake appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court. Lake’s attorneys argued that Maricopa County election officials deliberately caused chaos on Election Day. This included triggering problems with voting machines, which led to long queues and delays. Lake claimed that these issues were meant to discredit GOP voters. Maricopa County, Lake said, mixed illegal and legal ballots. They also approved invalid absentee votes.

According to the suit, it described the Nov. 8, voting chaos. “Republican attorney observer—part of a group of Republican attorneys covering 115 of 223 vote centers on Election Day—testified there was ‘pandemonium out there everywhere’ with ‘lines out the door, which did not—you did not see during the Primary…. [and] angry and frustrated voters.'”

“The evidence and testimony presented at the Arizona Senate Committee on Elections meeting on January 23, 2023, showed more than 7,000 ballots being rejected by vote center tabulators every 30 minutes from 6:00 am to 8:00 pm—totaling over 217,000 rejected ballot insertions on a day with approximately 248,000 votes cast,” The suit was said.

In response to Lake’s appeal being rejected by the Arizona Court of Appeals, the team of Lake said that the lower court had ruled in her favor. “erred” Rely on “presumptions that election officers act in good faith” That and more “elevated evidentiary standards would effectively immunize election officials from suit, even if their intentional misconduct or gross negligence impairs elections.”

Maricopa County lawyers rejected Lake’s claim that there had been intentional malfeasance by county officials regarding the Nov.9 printer issues. Scott Jarrett (Maricopa County Elections co-director) blamed the printing of issues at some polling stations on insufficiently dark toner. Jarrett claimed it meant voters were unable to read certain ballots and had to have them placed in a box so they could be counted later.

Jarrett told The court heard that 17,000 of the ballots were found in secure boxes throughout the county. Later, he stated that the county has 17,000 ballots. “no reason to believe” None of these problems were created intentionally.

“All the votes get transferred to the duplicated ballot that gets duplicated and tabulated,” Jarrett said.

CPAC Survey

Her future as a Republican Party member looks promising, even if her lawsuit is denied by the State Supreme Court or federal courts. Over the weekend, Lake won the Conservative Action Political Conference (CPAC) straw poll for vice president, defeating Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Governor of South Carolina. Nikki Haley.

“We’re flattered, but unfortunately our legal team says the Constitution won’t allow for her to serve as Governor and VP at the same time,” Lake’s Team wrote On Sunday she tweeted about her legal challenge in relation to an election that was appealed to Arizona Supreme Court.

Lake took 20 percent of votes to win the straw poll. Haley took 10 percent while DeSantis received 14 percent.