Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Maricopa County officials, alleging election law violations and demanding records related to Election Day printer issues.
Maricopa County, the most populous county in the state, had notable problems during the November 8 election, including printer and tabulation machine-related issues in at least 70 of the county’s 223 polling locations.
“The filing today was basically just a way for the courts to pressure Maricopa County into giving us public records we have been asking for,” Lake said Wednesday.
The Republican blasted county officials over the treatment of “Election Day voters,” which included those printer issues and “three-hour lines.”
“We cannot allow an election like this to stand,” Lake asserted.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) and Arizona attorney general candidate Abe Hamadeh a day earlier filed a lawsuit in State Superior Court in Maricopa County against election officials, alleging “a host of errors and inaccuracies” during the 2022 election process, The Daily Wire reported.
“Pervasive errors by our election officials resulted in the disenfranchisement of countless Arizonans who had their voices silenced,” Hamadeh said in a statement. “Arizonans deserve to have an election system that is transparent and fair and right now we have neither. Today’s challenge is the only way to provide accountability and restore confidence in our broken election system.”
In a press release issued Tuesday night, Hamadeh said the 25-page complaint “details a host of errors surrounding the administration of the November 2022 General Election concerning alleged election board misconduct, the tallying of unlawful ballots, and the erroneous counting of votes.”
Arizona’s outgoing attorney general, Mark Brnovich, ordered Maricopa County officials on November 19 to submit a report on its handling of the election.
The letter said there is evidence, including first-hand witness accounts, of “statutory violations” in the contest, which Katie Hobbs oversees as secretary of state. Hobbs, a Democrat, is the projected winner of the Arizona gubernatorial contest against Lake.
Additionally, at least two counties in the state — Cochise County and Mohave County — have confirmed that their certification of the 2022 election will be delayed until the November 28 deadline.
The two Republican supervisors in Cochise County voted November 18 for the delay after some argued the county’s vote-counting machines were not properly certified. State Elections Director Kori Lorick threatened the board that the state would sue if it did not certify on time.
In a split vote, Mohave County reportedly voted to delay as a protest against voting issues in Maricopa County.
