Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson tossed eight of the claims in Lake’s lawsuit, but allowed two to remain.
By Ray Stern || Arizona Republic
A judge declined Monday to dismiss Kari Lake’s election challenge after orarguments by attorneys, giving her a chance to try to prove her claims of misconduct by election official\
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson tossed eight of the claims in Lake’s lawsuit, but allowed two to remain that alleged an intentional plot by officials to manipulate the election in favor of Lake’s Democratic opponent, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. In two separate orders, he ruled that a two-day trial will take place before Jan. 2, and that Hobbs and County Recorder Stephen Richer would be required to testify as Lake wished.
Lake has “alleged intentional misconduct sufficient to affect the outcome of the election and thus has stated an issue of fact that requires going beyond the pleadings,” the ruling stated. It continued that Lake must show at trial that the county’s printer malfunctions were intentionally rigged to affect the election results, and that the actions “did actually affect the outcome.”
Thompson didn’t immediately set the time for the trial, but ordered the attorneys for Lake and defendants including Hobbs and county officials to submit a list with the anticipated time required for the proceedings no later than 12 p.m., Dec. 20.
Last week, he agreed to allow Lake’s legal team to inspect a small number of printed and early ballots from the election, including 50 that were marked “spoiled” on Election Day. That inspection was scheduled to begin Dec. 20.
Here’s what the lawyers argued in court
