Stacey Barchenger
Arizona Republic
Former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake wants to review the signatures of about 1.3 million Maricopa County residents who voted early last year, and a judge has granted her a two-day trial to make her case to do so.
The trial in September may sort out whether the signatures on the green affidavit envelopes voters use to return their early ballots are a public record, as Lake argues, or not subject to public review, as argued by the county.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Hannah last week set the trial for Sept. 21 and 25.
Lake, a former television news anchor who lost the race for the governor’s office to Democrat Katie Hobbs by 17,117 votes in November, continues to claim without evidence that she is the rightful governor and a victim of a rigged election system. Still, she has repeatedly teased a possible run for U.S. Senate in 2024 and has continued as one of former President Donald Trump’s most outspoken supporters even as he’s faced four criminal indictments this year.
Lake and her attorneys, who were previously fined $2,000 for lying to the Arizona Supreme Court in Lake’s separate but related election case, filed a lawsuit seeking ballot affidavit envelopes in late April. They initially sued several county elections officials and the Republican-majority Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, but Hannah granted motions to dismiss those defendants, leaving Recorder Stephen Richer as the lone defendant.
