Tenacious Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake (R) refuses to concede defeat and on Sunday signaled she will take the matter “right up to the Supreme Court” if necessary.
Lake faced off against Katie Hobbs (D) in the gubernatorial race. Though leading Hobbs in pre-election polling, Lake was declared the loser amid reports of voting machine problems and election irregularities.
Citing voting issues that allegedly could have flipped election results in Hobbs’ favor, Lake filed a legal challenge against Maricopa County officials to contest election results. Lake is seeking another election or to be proclaimed the winner.
Initially, several counties, including Maricopa county, refused to certify the election but were later compelled to do so by state authorities.
The Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County will consider oral arguments on the motions this week. The hearings begin Monday — a two-day trial will follow if the case moves forward.
During a Sunday Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest event, Lake noted she was not confident her case would move forward. Speaking to an enthusiastic crowd, Lake encouraged event attendees to remain positive, saying she was prepared to contest lower court decisions that rule against her motion:
“We’ve seen judges dismiss cases. I don’t want you to get discouraged,” Lake told the crowd. “It could happen. We’re going to kick this right up to the Supreme Court, and I will not stop fighting.”
Lake continued: “I think they’re all wondering what I’m going to do. I’ll tell you what, I’m not going to just knock that house of cards over. We’re going to burn it to the ground.”
The Epoch Times noted that Lake cited statements made by Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates and County Recorder Stephen Richer in her lawsuit. Lake noted that during the Nov. 8 election, Gates and Richer confirmed there were printer errors across dozens of polling locations and that voters were instructed to “either cast their ballot at a different location or drop their ballot in a drop-box.”
Lake claims tens of thousands of ballots in Maricopa County were tabulated without proper chain-of-custody documentation and “accused county officials of making ballots randomly appear,” according to The Epoch Times.
Lake’s lawsuit concludes:
“Lake received the greatest number of votes and is entitled to be named the winner,” her lawsuit stated. “Alternately, the election must be re-done in Maricopa County to eliminate the effects of maladminstration and illegal votes on the vote tallies reported by Maricopa County.”
Maricopa County officials have petitioned the court to dismiss the suit, claiming Lake’s allegations are “false” and that “she doesn’t understand how the chain-of-custody process works.”
“This allegation is false, and will be easily disproven by the County if necessary,” Maricopa County said in court filings (pdf). “Plaintiff reviewed the County’s Early Voting Ballot Transport Statements, but the chain of custody documents for election day are different because the process for early ballot delivery is different on election day.”
In a separate but similar case, GOP secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem filed a lawsuit claiming the mismanagement of ballots contributed to him losing the election. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa Julian dismissed his motion, concluding:
“None of these alleged acts constitutes ‘misconduct’ sufficient to survive dismissal.”
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