On Saturday, the Republican Kari Lake’s lawsuit against Katie Hobbs, the current governor-elect and former secretary of state, was dismissed.
The court dismissed Lake’s argument that problems with the printing and tabulation of ballots on Election Day at a sizable number of polling stations were the consequence of official malfeasance and altered the outcome of the election.
Judge Peter Thompson of the Maricopa County Superior Court ruled on Saturday that there was not “clear and convincing evidence” of election-related official malfeasance. Lake announced in a statement that she will appeal the decision.
Here is my statement following the conclusion of our Election Trial: pic.twitter.com/Jq9THJJ5oO
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) December 23, 2022
KARI LAKE TRIAL: Katie Hobbs’ lawyer goes on bizarre rant during closing argument arguing it’s political malpractice to tell voters to vote on Election Day and not vote early
— Drew Hernandez (@DrewHLive) December 22, 2022
Says Americans choose their own “rulers”
Says you can’t go contest an election in court after results pic.twitter.com/1WNWWmr4ha
“Does anybody know when those ballots leaving the voting centers, how many are in the bins?”
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) December 21, 2022
“…No.”
This is a MAJOR problem!
Maricopa County Recorder admits chain of custody is totally meaningless, they can magically say how many ballots appear at central tabulation facility pic.twitter.com/WIJr7tS7Zx
Katie Hobbs, a former secretary of state and the next governor, opted not to speak during the hearing about certifying her own election. Hobbs’ subpoena was withdrawn earlier this week by Kari Lake’s team.
Following the conclusion of the Arizona election trial on Friday, Kari Lake radiated confidence that she had proved her point: Katie Hobbs and Maricopa County election officials had behaved maliciously to deny her campaign and Arizona voters a free, fair, and transparent election.
“I’m just going to make a quick statement. I am so incredibly proud of our amazing attorneys and staff that put this amazing case together, a historic case. We proved without a shadow of a doubt that there was malicious intent that caused disruption so great it changed the results of the election. We provided expert testimony. We provided experts. The other side brought in activists to try to save face. They admitted that they’ve known about these ballot problems. That they’re ballot problems. Now they’re trying to say that it’s been going on for three elections. Our elections are a mess in this country, and I am so happy to stand up and say, no longer will we, as Americans put up with this. We demand fair, honest, transparent elections and we will get them.” Lake said following the trial
Nevertheless, there was strong expert testimony indicating that the above-mentioned ballot printer problems could not have been accidental.
The ballot printer and tabulation issues that created considerable confusion in the Arizona election were made on Election Day, according to Maricopa County Elections Director Scott Jarrett, who verified this in court.
