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Arizona’s highest court has issued a new ruling in regard to an additional election-related filing from former Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that it would deny her second request for an expedited review of allegations she has made over problems she claims cost her a victory against then-Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who has since been sworn in as governor, The Epoch Times reported.
Currently, her case is before the Court of Appeals, and on Friday, the state Supreme Court ruled gain that the lower court process must play out, writing, “as indicated by the Court of Appeals’ order setting an accelerated briefing schedule, the Court has no reason to doubt that the Court of Appeals appreciates Petitioner’s (Lake’s) desire for an expedited resolution.”
The high court also noted that it would again deny the petitioner’s request for transfer without prejudice “to seeking expedited review of an adverse decision after the Court of Appeals has had an adequate opportunity to consider the pleadings, conference the matter, and prepare a well-considered decision.”
In her latest petition, Lake wrote that “in vacating the January 24 oral argument date on which this Court relied in part to deny Lake’s prior petition to transfer, however, the Court of Appeals opened the door to months of potential delay.”
The outlet also reported:
The court responded to that argument by saying the Court of Appeals entered an order on Jan. 9 and set up an expedited briefing schedule regarding her case with the next conference starting Feb. 1. Earlier reports indicated that the appeals court initially wanted to start in March.
A former broadcast journalist endorsed by former President Donald Trump, Lake filed a lawsuit in December against former Secretary of State and now-Gov. Katie Hobbs and several Maricopa County officials, asking the courts to either re-do the election in Maricopa or declare her the winner. Before she was sworn in earlier this month, Hobbs had defeated Lake by 17,000 votes.
Lake remained undeterred after a judge on Christmas Eve tossed out all of her claims regarding the November election.
According to the Arizona Mirror, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson issued his decision the morning of Christmas Eve, rejecting all of her claims that problems encountered at many polling stations throughout the state’s largest county last month led to substantial voter disenfranchisement and cost her a victory. Most polls had her ahead of Hobbs before Election Day.
The outlet added:
His decision came after a two-day trial on Wednesday and Thursday in which Lake’s team attempted to convince him that a Maricopa County employee had intentionally tampered with Election Day ballot printers in an effort to disenfranchise Republican voters and that the county’s failure to adhere to chain-of custody rules for early ballots dropped off on Election Day led to thousands of illegal ballots being injected into the system.
“Every one of Plaintiff’s witnesses — and for that matter, Defendants’ witnesses as well — was asked about any personal knowledge of both intentional misconduct and intentional misconduct directed to impact the 2022 General Election,” Thompson wrote in his decision. “Every single witness before the Court disclaimed any personal knowledge of such misconduct. The Court cannot accept speculation or conjecture in place of clear and convincing evidence.”
He also noted that in a case like this, the burden of proof is on the plaintiff and that the proof must be of the “most clear and conclusive character.”
Lake announced on social media she planned on appealing the ruling.
“My Election Case provided the world with evidence that proves our elections are run outside of the law,” Lake tweeted Saturday morning. “This Judge did not rule in our favor. However, for the sake of restoring faith and honesty in our elections, I will appeal his ruling.”
My Election Case provided the world with evidence that proves our elections are run outside of the law. This Judge did not rule in our favor. However, for the sake of restoring faith and honesty in our elections, I will appeal his ruling.
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) December 24, 2022
The AZ Mirror noted further:
More than 200 people submitted statements to the court attesting to their frustrating experiences trying to vote on Election Day in Maricopa County because of ballot printing issues that caused tabulator problems.
But nearly every one of those voters ended up casting their ballots, and unhappiness with Election Day errors didn’t constitute grounds for overturning the election results, Thompson concluded.
