Monday, April 29, 2024

Kari Lake Loses Final Claim In Election Challenge

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Kari Lake has reached the end of her attempts to overturn the result of 's 2022 gubernatorial election.

An Arizona judge has dismissed the Republican gubernatorial candidate's last remaining legal claim in her lawsuit challenging her loss to Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs.

Superior Court Judge Peter A. Thompson ruled Lake did not provide evidence that the signature review process for mail-in ballots in Maricopa County was tainted by misconduct.

In March, the Arizona Supreme Court rejected all but one of ‘s claims in her lawsuit. (RELATED: Arizona Supreme Court Rejects Majority Of Kari Lake Challenge)

During the trial, Lake's attorneys called on expert witnesses who said that signature verification at lower levels was not done thoroughly and that higher-level reviewers neglected to address inconsistencies in ballots. Lake's legal team argued that approximately 70,000 ballot signatures were reviewed for less than one second, which they contended was so deficient for signature comparison that it amounted to no verification at all.

Judge Thompson rejected Lake's argument writing that to side with her the court would have to “re-write” Arizona election law “to insert a minimum time for signature verification and specify variables to be considered in the process.” 

“The Court finds that looking at signatures that, by and large, have consistent characteristics will require only a cursory examination and thus take very little time,” Thompson said. 

“The question after the comparison is whether the signatures are consistent to the satisfaction of the recorder, or his designee. This, not the satisfaction of the Court, the satisfaction of a challenger, or the satisfaction of any other reviewing authority is the determinative quality for whether signature verification occurred,” the judge ruled. “It would be a violation of the constitutional separation of powers … for this Court, after the recorder has made a comparison to insert itself into the process and reweigh whether a signature is consistent or inconsistent.” 

Thompson concluded that Lake did not provide sufficient evidence that the signature verification process in Maricopa County violated the law. 

Despite Lake's loss in Arizona, the MAGA-style Republican's popularity has skyrocketed in recent months. The former TV reporter is openly mulling a U.S. Senate bid to challenge Krysten Sinema (I-Ariz.). Lake is also rumored to be among the candidates Donald Trump is considering as a running mate.

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Nancy Jackson
Nancy Jackson
Nancy grew up in the South where her passion for politics first began. After getting her BA in journalism from Ole Miss she became an arts and culture writer for Athens Magazine where she enjoyed reporting on the eclectic music and art scene in Athens, GA. However, her desire to report on issues and policies impacting everyday Americans won out and she packed her bags for Washington, DC. Now, she splits her time between the Nation’s Capital and Philadelphia where she covers the fast-paced environment of politics, business, and news. In her off time, you can find Nancy exploring museums or enjoying brunch with friends.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Judicial Anarchy.

    “When once a Rep”To consider judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions is a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

  2. Once a republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

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