Judge orders 2-day trial in Kari Lake's lawsuit, dismisses some claims - The Arizona Republic

A justice declined Monday to disregard Kari Lake's predetermination situation aft oral arguments by attorneys, giving her a accidental to effort to beryllium her claims of misconduct by predetermination officials.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson tossed 8 of the claims successful Lake's lawsuit, but allowed 2 to stay that alleged an intentional crippled by officials to manipulate the predetermination successful favour of Lake's Democratic opponent, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. In 2 abstracted orders, helium ruled that a two-day proceedings volition instrumentality spot earlier Jan. 2, and that Hobbs and County Recorder Stephen Richer would beryllium required to attest arsenic Lake wished.

Lake has "alleged intentional misconduct capable to impact the result of the predetermination and frankincense has stated an contented of information that requires going beyond the pleadings," the ruling stated. It continued that Lake indispensable amusement astatine proceedings that the county's printer malfunctions were intentionally rigged to impact the predetermination results, and that the actions "did really impact the outcome."

Thompson didn't instantly acceptable the clip for the trial, but ordered the attorneys for Lake and defendants including Hobbs and region officials to taxable a database with the anticipated clip required for the proceedings nary aboriginal than 12 p.m., Dec. 20.

Last week, helium agreed to let Lake's ineligible squad to inspect a tiny fig of printed and aboriginal ballots from the election, including 50 that were marked "spoiled" connected Election Day. That inspection was scheduled to statesman Dec. 20.

Here's what the lawyers argued successful court

Lawyers for Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs and Maricopa County officials told a justice earlier Monday that Lake's suit is afloat of unproven speculation that isn't allowed for predetermination challenges nether authorities law.

The lawyers, who appeared earlier Thompson alongside attorneys for Lake, gave a forceful rebuttal of claims by the unsuccessful politician candidate, saying her suit fails to conscionable ineligible standards for an predetermination ailment and contains baseless claims of fraud.

The Trump-endorsed Republican is contesting predetermination results that amusement she mislaid to her Democratic rival and existent Secretary of State Hobbs by conscionable much than 17,000 votes. Her 70-page lawsuit, filed Dec. 9 successful Maricopa County Superior Court, contends that "hundreds of thousands of amerciable ballots infected" the Nov. 8 election, relying connected alleged adept investigation and witnesser declarations.

Lake hopes the tribunal volition state her the rightful victor of the Nov. 8 predetermination oregon bid a caller election.

Exclusive:Here are cardinal facts and further accusation down the claims successful Kari Lake's predetermination challenge

Lawyers for the officials named successful Lake's suit − including Hobbs, Richer and 5 members of the region Board of Supervisors − said astatine Monday's proceeding Lake's lawsuit should beryllium thrown retired due to the fact that it doesn't adhere to authorities standards for a valid predetermination complaint. They besides asked for sanctions against Lake.

Kurt Olsen, 1 of Lake's attorneys, meantime portrayed the suit arsenic an exposure of systemic problems, failures and imaginable amerciable acts by predetermination officials that led to "massive failure" astatine the polling stations and "tens of thousands" of disenfranchised voters.

Hobbs team: Standards not met

Hobbs' attorney, Abha Khanna of the Democrat-allied Elias Law Group, told Thompson that Lake's suit was portion of a "sustained assault" connected predetermination processes by losing candidates and should beryllium instantly dismissed.

The lawsuit's mentation of a "master plot" to people Lake by region officials, who similar Lake are Republican, someway happened "without a azygous trace: nary documents, nary emails, nary leaks," Khanna said.

Glitches did onslaught machines astatine astir a 3rd of polling places successful Maricopa County during the election, providing talking points for election-denying candidates specified Lake and losing GOP Secretary of State campaigner Mark Finchem but truthful acold nary impervious that voters were disenfranchised.

When tabulators began rejecting immoderate printed ballots connected Nov. 8, creating vexation and agelong lines astatine immoderate polling places, region officials instructed voters who disquieted their ballots mightiness not number to permission them successful a batch called "door three," wherever they were retrieved aboriginal and counted.

Large numbers of Republican voters followed the instructions of Lake and different conspiracy-minded candidates to ballot in-person connected Election Day alternatively than to message their ballots, which made them much susceptible to immoderate polling-place issues. Until the Trump era, Republicans had utilized mail-in ballots much than Democrats successful Arizona.

Out of 220 witnesses offered by Lake's lawsuit, the county's question to disregard the lawsuit notes that lone 3 of those were incapable to formed a ballot aft choosing not to hold successful enactment oregon spell elsewhere.

The elector declarations incorporate thing that suggests immoderate votes were counted unlawfully oregon immoderate voters "were wrongfully turned away," Khanna said, adding that "at most, those declarations authorities a fistful of voters chose not to ballot utilizing the means disposable to them connected Election Day."

The cardinal constituent successful the lawsuit is that Arizona instrumentality requires a ailment to incorporate circumstantial allegations of fraud, a modular developed to forestall unproven, "free-wheeling" speculations that unfairly clasp up the antiauthoritarian process, she said. The instrumentality requires "credible, positive, and unequivocal evidence" of perceived problems, with presumptions successful favour of the predetermination results, but Lake's suit offers lone insinuations, she said.

The suit says that it is not alleging fraud, truthful striking retired 1 of 2 ineligible criteria needed, she said. The different request is to amusement that alleged misconduct oregon amerciable votes really affected the result of the election, but Lake didn't bash that either, Khanna said.

"Ms. Lake does not travel close" to gathering the standards," she said. "The suit requires contiguous dismissal."

Lake lawyer fights back

Lake's attorneys for the suit see Bryan Blehm, who was a lawyer for Cyber Ninjas, the contractor hired by the authorities Senate for its reappraisal of the 2020 election, and Olsen, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who precocious was ordered to wage sanctions successful a national suit brought by Lake and Finchem that a justice said contained frivolous and baseless claims.

Olsen, who spoke aft the region lawyers, said the justice should enactment banal successful the affidavit of "top cyber expert" Clay Parikh, whose investigation concluded that the county's "system-wide" failures could lone beryllium explained by intentional manipulation of region officials. An investigation "based connected science" besides showed that 15,000 to 29,000 votes were disenfranchised, Olsen said. He besides claimed the region mysteriously "found" 25,000 "extra voters" 2 days aft the polls closed.

Drawing from the lawsuit, Olsen discussed assorted factors that helium said led to "massive failure" connected Nov. 8, specified arsenic Hobbs' reporting of misinformation connected Twitter, a PAC started by Richer, alleged ballot "chain of custody" problems and what helium implied was a suspicious voter-signature verification process.

He appealed to the affidavits of 3 "whistleblowers" connected the past point, claiming that "tens of thousands of ballots were being pushed into the strategy that should ne'er person been counted" due to the fact that of sloppy signature checks.

One of the county's lawyers, Tom Liddy, ripped Olsen's assertion that Parikh was a "cyber expert," saying idiosyncratic who maintained printers astatine a Staples office-supply store would person impressed him more.

Liddy said Olsen's conception of 25,000 "ghost ballots" was simply due to the fact that the region gave 1 aboriginal estimation of mail-in ballots that were dropped disconnected astatine the polls connected Nov. 8, and past released the existent fig a fewer days later.

He offered an reply to Olsen's "challenge" to find different predetermination successful which tabulators failed to work ballots: Liddy said those problems "happen each the time" due to the fact that of printer issues, bedewed ink connected a ballot, oregon ovals that weren't filled in.

On the contented of signatures, Khanna said they were not rejected astatine a complaint of 30% to 40% arsenic Olsen asserted, and that successful reality, ballot rejection typically amounts to less than 1% of ballots checked.

Here's what the judge's ruling said

Thompson, who presided implicit Monday's live-streamed, hour-plus hearing, listened to each broadside without asking questions and ended by saying helium would marque a ruling connected the county's question to dismiss arsenic soon arsenic possible.

His ruling, released conscionable earlier 8 p.m., dismissed 8 of Lake's 10 counts successful her lawsuit. The ineligible doctrine of laches, which forbids claims that could person been brought overmuch earlier successful time, applies erstwhile considering the county's signature-verification process oregon Lake's assertion that the Arizona Constitution's Secrecy Clause bars mail-in ballots, helium wrote.

In different dismissed counts, Lake didn't authorities a assertion sufficiently oregon asked for alleviation that the tribunal could not supply specified arsenic "ordering a caller election."

But she did authorities a valid assertion successful alleging that a region worker interfered illegally with the printers, "resulting successful immoderate fig of mislaid votes" for Lake, and she's entitled to effort to beryllium that, Thompson ruled.

Likewise, she made a circumstantial allegation that an chartless fig of ballots were added to the county's full by employees of Runbeck Election Services, a Phoenix institution that provides predetermination instrumentality for the county, and that receipts of transportation were not maintained successful usurpation of authorities law. Thompson allowed that assertion to proceed, too.

The proceeding came days aft a judge dismissed a akin suit by Mark Finchem, different Trump-endorsed candidate. Finchem, who was defeated by Democrat and erstwhile County Recorder Adrian Fontes, claimed Hobbs failed to guarantee tabulation machines were approved by the Election Assistance Commission and that she helped origin suspension of his Twitter account.

Judge Melissa Julian said Thursday that Finchem's claims of misconduct were insufficient to past dismissal and granted a petition for sanctions by attorneys for Hobbs and Fontes.

Reach the newsman astatine rstern@arizonarepublic.com or 480-276-3237. Follow him connected Twitter @raystern.