PHOENIX (AP) – An Arizona appeals court has rejected Republican Kari Lake’s challenge to her loss in the Arizona governor’s race to Democrat Katie Hobbs, rejecting her request to throw out the results of the election in the state’s most populous county and proceed with the re-election.
In a ruling on Thursday, the Arizona Court of Appeals wrote Lake, who claimed problems with ballot printers at some police stations on Election Day were the result of intentional misconduct, did not provide evidence that voters whose ballots could not be read by tabulators at polling places there is none. can choose. The court said a witness called by Lake to testify had confirmed that ballots that could not be read at the polling station were ultimately still counted.
And when the pollster who testified on behalf of Lake claimed that the problem of the polling place had disenfranchised voters enough to change the outcome in favor of Lake, the court said that the conclusion was baseless.
The appeals court wrote Lake’s appeal failed because the evidence supported the conclusion that “the voters could have voted, if the votes were counted correctly, and there was no other basis to justify the election results.”
Shortly after the decision, Lake tweeted: “I said I would take this case all the way to the Arizona Supreme Court, and that’s what we’re going to do. Swipe, America!”
Lake, who lost to Hobbs by more than 17,000 votes, was one of the most vocal 2022 Republicans promoting former President Donald Trump’s election fraud, which was central to her campaign. While most other election deniers around the country conceded after losing the race in November, Lake did not.
Lawyers for Lake focused on problems with ballot printers in some polling places in Maricopa County, home to more than 60% of the state’s voters. Defective printers produce ballots that are too light to be read by on-site tabulators at polling places. Lines were backed up in some areas amid the confusion.
County officials said everyone had a chance to vote and all ballots were counted because the printer-affected ballots were taken to more sophisticated counters at the election department headquarters.
Lake’s lawyers also claim the chain of custody for ballots has been broken at the off-site facility, where contractors scan ballots to prepare them for processing. They claimed that workers at the facility placed their own ballots into the pile, rather than returning them through normal channels, and that documents documenting the transfer of ballots were also missing. The district disputed that claim.
Hobbs’ attorney said Lake was trying to spread disbelief in Arizona’s election results and offered no evidence to back up allegations about one of the elections.
Lake faced a very long obstacle in her challenge, it was necessary to prove not only bad behavior, but also that it was intended to deny her victory and in fact caused the wrong woman to be announced as the champion. In her appeal, her attorney argued the trial judge used the wrong standard of proof in deciding the case.
Hobbs took office as governor on January 2.