The campaign of Kari Lake wants to know precisely what transpired during the midterm elections on November 8. In pursuit of this objective, the former TV anchor turned Republican firebrand is suing the Maricopa County, Arizona, election authorities.
On Election Day, widespread tabulator failures placed Maricopa County in the center of the national discourse. According to reports, as many as 48 percent of polling stations experienced printer or tabulator failures, resulting in extraordinarily lengthy lineups, multi-hour wait periods, and, in some instances, voters being turned away.
Officials of Maricopa County have refused to produce data outlining the administration of the November 8 election. The lawsuit filed by Lake demands that Maricopa County officials deliver the requested information in a timely manner.
Kari Lake For Arizona v. Ri… by The Western Journal
Before Arizona’s election results are confirmed, Lake’s team wants to have a chance to comb over the records.
“Plaintiff desires that every lawful vote be properly counted and every voter who was eligible to vote be allowed to vote. Unfortunately, due to Defendants’ failures, many eligible voters may not have been able to vote,” the suit said.
The lawsuit additionally asserted that at least 118, or 53 percent, of Maricopa County’s 223 polling locations encountered voting machine difficulties and breakdowns.
With each new complaint, it appears that the number of polling places affected by these problems is increasing.
Initially, on election day, Maricopa County stated that 20% of its polling places had malfunctioning printers. Subsequent sources stated the figure to be 30 percent, and then Rasmussen Reports declared the figure to be 48 percent.
Now, Lake’s team asserts that over half of all polling stations experienced such problems, resulting in extremely lengthy lineups and, in at least one instance, voters being turned away from the polls.
In addition, the suit argues that Maricopa County election officials “failed to detect, prevent or timely remedy this problem during setup and testing of their polling stations.”
In an accompanying Application For Order to Show Cause, Lake’s team submitted a list of Maricopa County election procedures and concerns requiring further study.
App OSC: Kari Lake For Ariz… by The Western Journal
Among these include misprinted ballots, the mixing of counted and uncounted ballots, and lengthy lineups at polling places.
“[I]n the absence of an immediate and comprehensive production of the requested public records, [Lake’s campaign] cannot tell the extent to which election laws and procedures were violated, and the full extent of the maladministration,” the document read.
Also attached to the suit are numerous signed declarations from poll workers and observers.
Exhibits in Kari Lake For A… by The Western Journal
These assertions share a similar theme: employees and spectators saw that problems impacting voters at polling stations were pervasive.
“Throughout my shift I witnessed multiple issues, including incredibly long lines, inoperable tabulators, and the inspector’s inability to retrieve the check-in numbers from the electronic poll book,” one such declaration stated. “I counted 110-120 people waiting in line outside the church gym, and another 40-50 people waiting in line inside the church gym. The size of these lines remained consistent throughout my shift.”
An additional witness, a “trained election day poll observer,” also noted same problems.
“At approximately 4:45PM, I observed that the line for voting was over 65 people long, but I did not see any reason for the line to be so long,” the observer’s declaration noted.