Photo by Jim Small || Arizona Mirror
The would-be governor’s second trial to overturn the 2022 election entered its second day Thursday
CAITLIN SIEVERS
Arizona Mirror
The second day of Kari Lake’s second trial aiming to overturn the 2020 election was marked by frequent stops for the judge to explain standard court procedures and Arizona and elections laws to Lake’s attorneys.
Lake, an election denying Republican, lost the governor’s race more than six months ago to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. But she has continued to claim that she is the true governor, saying that the election was rigged, and has challenged her 17,000-vote loss.
This is Lake’s second trial in the courtroom of Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson. Lake lost the first trial in December, appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court, which sent one of her 10 initial claims back to Thompson for further examination and upheld the dismissal of the other nine.
This trial is solely about Maricopa County’s early ballot signature verification efforts. Lake has claimed that the county did not do any certification whatsoever before approving ballots, though her own “whistleblower” witnesses on the first day of the trial testified that they diligently worked to verify those signatures and believed they did their jobs well.
