Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has scored a major victory in her lawsuit against Governor-Elect Katie Hobbs, the former Secretary of State who certified a state election that was rife with critical errors.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson approved three of Lake‘s four demands that entailed examining random ballots from the county.
The approved request came in the aftermath of a 70-page lawsuit that Lake filed against top state election officials. Her legal team argues there were thousands of illegal votes and “violations” in the election process that resulted in a victory for Hobbs.
“Our lawsuit isn’t based on conspiracy or wild speculation,” Lake‘s campaign tweeted. “We have laid out a very clear theory about statutory violations and a broken chain of custody. These ballots deserve close scrutiny and we’re delighted we have been granted it.”
The ruling authorized Lake‘s team’s to inspect 50 random ballots cast on Election Day from six polling stations in Maricopa County.
As Just the News reported on Friday, Maricopa County election officials couldn’t reconcile a disparity of 16,000 votes.
“Recently disclosed internal communications between top election officials in Arizona’s Maricopa County in the immediate aftermath of Election Day reveal that they struggled to reconcile a discrepancy of almost 16,000 in outstanding ballot totals,” the publication reported.
“Prior to a Maricopa County press conference with Board of Supervisors Chair Bill Gates and Recorder Stephen Richer on Nov. 10, Richer sent an email to Elections Director Scott Jarrett, Gates and others about a significant discrepancy between the county’s estimated remaining ballot totals and the number reported by the secretary of state’s office,” the report continued.
“Unable to currently reconcile SOS listing with our estimates from yesterday,” Richer wrote. Maricopa County estimated having 392,000 ballots left to be counted, while the secretary of state’s website said there were 407,664 ballots left.
“So there’s a 15,000 difference somewhere,” Richer said, although the discrepancy cited was closer to 16,000.
“Maricopa County was plagued by numerous issues with ballot machines at many of its vote centers on Election Day, resulting in delays and long lines.,” the report noted. The Arizona election was reported to have been decided in Hobbs’ favor by an estimated 17,000 votes.
Follow Kyle Becker on Twitter @kylenabecker.
