By Dustin Gardiner | Arizona Republic
A lawsuit seeks to knock Ken Bennett off the ballot for Arizona governor over accusations that he did not submit enough valid voter signatures to qualify.
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Bennett, a former Arizona secretary of state, is challenging Gov. Doug Ducey for the Republican nomination in the Aug. 28 primary election.
On Wednesday, political supporters of Ducey filed a lawsuit arguing Bennett’s signatures are invalid for a host of reasons, including that they don’t match signatures on voter records or were signed by Democrats or unregistered voters.
Primary candidates in Arizona must collect signatures from registered voters who are members of their party or independents to appear on the ballot.
In the lawsuit, attorneys Kory Langhofer and Thomas Basile contend at least 1,316 of Bennett’s signatures aren’t valid. Bennett jumped into the gubernatorial primary in late April, with little time to collect signatures before the filing deadline.
