Kari Lake Files First Lawsuit, Issues Demand to Maricopa County Election Officials as Poll Workers Blow Lid
Kari Lake’s campaign wants to know exactly what happened during the Nov. 8 midterm elections. In pursuit of that goal, the former news anchor turned Republican firebrand is suing the election officials of Maricopa County, Arizona.
Maricopa County found itself at the center of the national conversation on Election Day thanks to widespread tabulator malfunctions. Reports indicate as many as 48 percent of voting locations suffered printer or tabulator malfunctions, creating incredibly long lines, muli-hour waits times, and, in some cases, voters being turned away.
The Western Journal received over 20 exclusive videos featuring Arizona voters and polling workers detailing the many problems they encountered while attempting to vote. One voter claimed he had to wait in line for seven hours before casting his ballot.
Maricopa County officials have refused to release records detailing how they administered the Nov. 8 election. Lake’s suit is asking the Arizona Superior Court to force Maricopa County officials to produce the records in a timely manner.
Kari Lake For Arizona v. Richer, Valenzuela, Jarrett, Gates, Hickman, Sellers, Galvin, and Galardo by The Western Journal on Scribd
Lake’s team hopes to have a chance to pore through the records before the election results in Arizona are certified.
“Plaintiff desires that every lawful vote be properly counted and every voter who was eligible to vote be allowed to vote. Unfortunately, due to Defendants’ failures, many eligible voters may not have been able to vote,” the suit said.
The suit further alleged that of Maricopa County’s 223 polling centers, at least 118, 53 percent, experienced voting machine issues and malfunctions.
The number of voting locations that faced such issues appears to be growing with each new report.
Initially, on election day, Maricopa County claimed that 20 percent of its voting locations had faulty printers. Subsequent reports then said the number was 30 percent and, later, Rassmussen Reports claimed the number was 48 percent.
Now, Lake’s team is claiming over half of all voting locations suffered such errors, the result of which was incredibly long lines and voters being turned away from voting, in at least one case.
Furthermore, the suit alleges that Maricopa County election officials “failed to detect, prevent or timely remedy this problem during setup and testing of their polling stations.”
In an attached Application For Order to Show Cause, Lake’s team provided a list of Maricopa County election processes and reported issues requiring investigation.
App OSC: Kari Lake For Arizona Lawsuit by The Western Journal on Scribd
These include misprinted ballots, the commingling of counted and uncounted ballots and long lines at poll locations, among others.
“[I]n the absence of an immediate and comprehensive production of the requested public records, [Lake’s campaign] cannot tell the extent to which election laws and procedures were violated, and the full extent of the maladministration,” the document read.
Also attached to the suit are numerous signed declarations from poll workers and observers.
Exhibits in Kari Lake For Arizona Lawsuit by The Western Journal on Scribd
These declarations carry a common theme: The workers and observers noticed that issues affecting voters at poll locations were rampant.
“Throughout my shift I witnessed multiple issues, including incredibly long lines, inoperable tabulators, and the inspector’s inability to retrieve the check-in numbers from the electronic poll book,” one such declaration stated. “I counted 110-120 people waiting in line outside the church gym, and another 40-50 people waiting in line inside the church gym. The size of these lines remained consistent throughout my shift.”
Another witness, a “trained election day poll observer,” reported these issues as well.
“At approximately 4:45PM, I observed that the line for voting was over 65 people long, but I did not see any reason for the line to be so long,” the observer’s declaration noted.
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