Arizona Republican Kari Lake’s challenge of her loss to Democrat Katie Hobbs in the gubernatorial race has been rejected by an appeals court.
On Thursday, the Arizona Court of Appeals denied Lake’s request to toss election results in Maricopa County and hold the election again.
According to Fox News, the Republican challenger claimed problems with ballot printers at some polling places on Election Day resulted from intentional misconduct. Still, the court said Lake presented no evidence that voters whose ballots were unreadable by tabulators at polling places were not able to vote.
“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,” the court said in its opinion.
The court said a witness called by Lake to testify had confirmed that voters whose ballots couldn’t initially be read at polling places could still ultimately have their vote counted.
And while a pollster who testified on behalf of Lake claimed the polling place problems had disenfranchised enough voters to change the outcome in Lake’s favor, the court said his conclusions were baseless.
In response to the ruling, Lake signaled her intent to take the case to the Supreme Court.
“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!”
Lawyers for Lake focused on problems with ballot printers at some polling places in Maricopa County, which is home to more than 60% of the state’s voters making it Arizona’s most populous county.
The defective printers produced ballots that were too light to be read by the on-site tabulators at polling places. However, the county argued everyone had a chance to vote and all ballots were counted since ballots affected by the printers were taken to more sophisticated counters at the elections department headquarters.
Additionally, Lake’s attorneys argued that the chain of custody for ballots was broken at an off-site facility. The county disputes the claim.
