Lake appeals loss in governor’s race to state Supreme Court

By JACQUES BILLEAUD
Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — Kari Lake, the Republican who lost the Arizona governor’s race to Democrat Katie Hobbs, has asked the state Supreme Court to review her challenge of election results that has so far been rejected by the courts.

In a filing Wednesday, Lake’s attorneys focused on problems with ballot printers at some polling places in Maricopa County, which is home to more than 60% of the state’s voters.

They alleged chaos created by the technical problems had disenfranchised Republican voters. They claimed the chain of custody for ballots was broken at an off-site facility and that the Arizona Court of Appeals applied the wrong standard of proof in deciding Lake’s challenge.

In the nearly four months since Lake’s defeat, the courts concluded she presented no evidence that voters whose ballots were unreadable by tabulators at polling places were not able to vote.

Maricopa County officials declined to comment Wednesday on Lake’s appeal. They have previously said everyone who experienced problems with ballot printers had a chance to vote.

In rejecting her appeal two weeks ago, the state Court of Appeals said the only thing Lake had in backing up her claims about the tabulator problems was “sheer speculation.”

Lake, who lost to Hobbs by just over 17,000 votes, was among the most vocal 2022 Republicans promoting former President Donald Trump’s election lies, which she made the centerpiece of her campaign. While most of the other election deniers around the country conceded after losing their races in November, Lake did not.

The defective printers produced ballots that were too light to be read by the on-site tabulators at polling places. Lines backed up in some areas due to the confusion. County officials say all ballots were counted since ballots affected by the printers were taken to more sophisticated counters at the elections department headquarters.

Lake’s attorneys also claimed the chain of custody for ballots was broken at an off-site facility, where a contractor scans mail ballots to prepare them for processing.

They claim workers at the facility put their own mail ballots into the pile, rather than returning them through normal channels and that paperwork documenting the transfer of ballots was missing. The county disputed the claim.

Hobbs took office as governor Jan. 2.