Judges hear arguments in separate election lawsuits filed by Kari Lake, Mark Finchem

[Valletta]

Tuesday morning, judges in Maricopa County Superior Court heard arguments on two separate election lawsuits filed last week by former GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Mark Finchem, who ran for Secretary of State.

Judges hear arguments in separate election lawsuits filed by Kari Lake, Mark Finchem

Both former GOP candidates filed separate lawsuits last week challenging the November election results.

www.kold.com

 

[Fantine]

Frivolous lawsuits should be dismissed. What a waste of taxpayers' money.

 

[Valletta]

Frivolous lawsuits should be dismissed. What a waste of taxpayers' money.

This is important to the whole country. A line has to be drawn to stop the dishonesty and corruption in our elections.

 

[KCfromNC]

This is important to the whole country. A line has to be drawn to stop the dishonesty and corruption in our elections.

Yep, hopefully the judges will show that those traits aren't acceptable and throw out the lawsuits.

 

[Whyayeman]

From the article:

The 70-page lawsuit says evidence was gathered from witnesses showing “hundreds of thousands of illegal ballots infected the election in Maricopa County.

And:

It claims Hobbs abused her power by failing to have the tabulation machines properly certified and threatening the board of supervisors in Mohave and Cochise counties with criminal charges if they didn’t certify the election.

Two separate lawsuits alleging two quite different kinds of irregularity. I think they should have got together beforehand to agree a strategy. Neither of these stand much chance without - you know - that evidence stuff.

Supporting evidence is usually thin on the ground in these now routine whinges from losing candidates for office. I look forward to some being cited here.

 

[essentialsaltes]

This is important to the whole country.

The RNC didn't think so. Their lawyers are staying out of this nonsense.

 

[Valletta]

From the article:

The 70-page lawsuit says evidence was gathered from witnesses showing “hundreds of thousands of illegal ballots infected the election in Maricopa County.

And:

It claims Hobbs abused her power by failing to have the tabulation machines properly certified and threatening the board of supervisors in Mohave and Cochise counties with criminal charges if they didn’t certify the election.

Two separate lawsuits alleging two quite different kinds of irregularity. I think they should have got together beforehand to agree a strategy. Neither of these stand much chance without - you know - that evidence stuff.

Supporting evidence is usually thin on the ground in these now routine whinges from losing candidates for office. I look forward to some being cited here.

There was wrongdoing at many different levels. Chain of custody, failure to certify, failure to verify many signatures-there were a number of violations of Arizona election laws.

 

[Whyayeman]

There was wrongdoing at many different levels. Chain of custody, failure to certify, failure to verify many signatures-there were a number of violations of Arizona election laws.

Assertions of that sort require some kind of support here, maybe in the form of - you know - actual evidence. People have made such allegations before but have struggled to find anything concrete.

 

[wing2000]

There was wrongdoing at many different levels. Chain of custody, failure to certify, failure to verify many signatures-there were a number of violations of Arizona election laws.

So you specifically have been asserting for the past two years.
To date, you have provided zero evidence.

 

[DaisyDay]

Frivolous lawsuits should be dismissed. What a waste of taxpayers' money.

Dismissed and sanctioned.

 

[Valletta]

Dismissed and sanctioned.

This should be important to anyone who cares about democracy. Why was there no chain of custody for so many ballots? Did the people running the elections really not realize that printers would need toner? Why were ballots counted without signature verifiation? The election operatives responsible need to be held accountable.

 

[Whyayeman]

Why was there no chain of custody for so many ballots?

You say that. Some kind of justification for this allegation, please. A quote would be helpful.

Otherwise, why should I believe this?

 

[Valletta]

You say that. Some kind of justification for this allegation, please. A quote would be helpful.

Otherwise, why should I believe this?

That's according to witness testimony.

 

[Whyayeman]

That's according to witness testimony.

Has there been a court case already? I think there are allegations. Who has made them and how can we access them?

 

[DaisyDay]

This should be important to anyone who cares about democracy. Why was there no chain of custody for so many ballots?

How many exactly?

Did the people running the elections really not realize that printers would need toner?

That is misstating the issue and therefore unanswerable.

Why were ballots counted without signature verifiation?

Um, which ballots are these? This is too vague to answer.

The election operatives responsible need to be held accountable.

People filing frivolous lawsuits need to be held accountable. People harassing election workers need to be held accountable.

 

[essentialsaltes]

However, other evidence shared today by Lake is emblematic of how Republicans have consistently made it harder to vote in the Grand Canyon State.

In one video, a man cast a provisional ballot that was ultimately rejected because he had not re-registered in the county after moving. ... In May 2022, the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature banned same-day voter registration [which would have allowed him to vote]. That bill passed on a party-line vote, with all Republicans voting for and all Democrats against. Lake has also shared stories of voters who showed up to vote but they were no longer registered to do so — the real-life consequences of aggressive voter purges. Arizona is one of seven GOP-controlled states that recently passed laws making voter purges more frequent and with less safeguards.

Finally, Lake posted a video recorded by two young voters as evidence that Republican voters were denied their right to vote. The likely reason the young man in the video was registered as a “federal-only” voter and handed a “federal-only” ballot is because he was unable to present documentary proof of citizenship as required by House Bill 2492. The Arizona Legislature approved H.B. 2492 this spring; it passed on a purely party line vote with all Republican lawmakers voting in favor ... and all Democrats voting against it. Gov. Doug Ducey (R) signed H.B. 2492 into law on March 30, 2022.

 

[Valletta]

However, other evidence shared today by Lake is emblematic of how Republicans have consistently made it harder to vote in the Grand Canyon State.

In one video, a man cast a provisional ballot that was ultimately rejected because he had not re-registered in the county after moving. ... In May 2022, the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature banned same-day voter registration [which would have allowed him to vote]. That bill passed on a party-line vote, with all Republicans voting for and all Democrats against. Lake has also shared stories of voters who showed up to vote but they were no longer registered to do so — the real-life consequences of aggressive voter purges. Arizona is one of seven GOP-controlled states that recently passed laws making voter purges more frequent and with less safeguards.

Finally, Lake posted a video recorded by two young voters as evidence that Republican voters were denied their right to vote. The likely reason the young man in the video was registered as a “federal-only” voter and handed a “federal-only” ballot is because he was unable to present documentary proof of citizenship as required by House Bill 2492. The Arizona Legislature approved H.B. 2492 this spring; it passed on a purely party line vote with all Republican lawmakers voting in favor ... and all Democrats voting against it. Gov. Doug Ducey (R) signed H.B. 2492 into law on March 30, 2022.

Even the major media has reported the increase in voting numbers since election reforms were passed. There is nothing wrong, for example, with getting dead people off of the election roles. I have no doubt that these three voters encountered problems, there could be dozens more. This happens when rules or regulations change for anything. For example, even though the ID requirements for airlines have been announced, when the deadline is past you can bet there will be people who can't fly because they don't have the proper ID. Should we blame that on the Democrats?

 

[Whyayeman]

voter purges

What a revealing phrase!

It should be the electors' responsibility to ensure that they are on the register, surely? In the UK every constituency's Electoral Roll (which I guess is equivalent) must be renewed each year. Being on the Roll is the sole qualification to vote in elections at every level. If your name is not on the register you cannot vote. Great efforts are made to keep it up to date by contacting every household by post, but there are people who do not understand or do not respond.

It seems to me that many of the disputes over ballots could be resolved if there were an unequivocal list of who could vote and where. I remember when fewer than half of Americans did not vote in elections. Perhaps the troubles began with the understandable wish to encourage more people to exercise their democratic prerogative. In doing so maybe voting may have become less secure.

All that is not the same as systematic voter fraud which so often alleged but so little demonstrated.

 

[wing2000]

You say that. Some kind of justification for this allegation, please. A quote would be helpful.

Otherwise, why should I believe this?

That's according to witness testimony.

....and still no quote or source.

 

[Pommer]

That's according to witness testimony.

....and still no quote or source.

“It is known”