Kari Lake, the GOP candidate for Arizona’s governorship, has announced an appeal related to her 2022 midterm election lawsuit. She alleges that fresh evidence points to deliberate misconduct by Maricopa County officials during the election.
On September 16, Lake took to the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, to state: “New evidence produced by Maricopa STRONGLY suggests County officials intentionally sabotaged the 2022 General Election, then gave false testimony attempting to cover up their misconduct.”
The appeal, lodged with the Arizona Court of Appeals, accuses Scott Jarrett, a senior Maricopa County elections official, of providing misleading testimony about Election Day complications in November 2022. On that particular day, Maricopa County representatives reported printer malfunctions with voting machines, prompting some voters to relocate to alternative polling stations. The appeal document elaborates: “BOD” stands for “ballot on demand.” “In reality, vote-center tabulators rejected BOD-printed ballots at a rate of over 7,000 every 30 minutes from 6:30 am, shortly after the polls opened, through 8:00 pm, after the polls closed.”
Lake’s appeal further claims that these disruptions resulted in extended waiting times, potentially disenfranchising a significant number of predominantly Republican voters. The appeal warns that “Arizona elections are now in uncharted territory.” As of now, neither Jarrett nor Maricopa County has issued a public statement addressing Lake’s appeal. When The Epoch Times reached out to Maricopa County for a statement on September 17, no response was provided.
In the past, Maricopa County’s legal team has dismissed Lake’s allegations of deliberate wrongdoing linked to the Election Day printer glitches. Jarrett attributed the printing issues at certain polling locations to insufficiently dark toner, which led to some unreadable ballots being stored in a secure box for later counting.
Post the November midterm elections, Lake and her associates have pursued various legal actions to contest the election results. However, these efforts have been consistently dismissed by several judges. Despite these setbacks, Lake, previously a Fox local anchor, has not officially conceded the election. Her Democratic rival, Katie Hobbs, has already assumed the role of governor.
Earlier in July, Lake approached the Arizona Supreme Court with an appeal, asserting that around 8,000 ballots were misconfigured and unreadable on Election Day. Her primary lawsuit, filed the previous year, contended that numerous voters in Maricopa County were disenfranchised on Election Day.
In a separate legal matter, Lake recently sought to dismiss a defamation lawsuit initiated by Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer. Richer had previously alleged that Lake and her team falsely accused him of undermining the midterm elections, leading to threats against his life.
Lake’s motion to dismiss argued that while Richer has the right to challenge the defendants’ statements, Arizona law prohibits him from filing a lawsuit merely because he disagrees with their views. The motion further claimed that Richer’s public remarks about the lawsuit indicate an intent to infringe upon Lake’s freedom of speech.
In addition to her gubernatorial ambitions, Lake has hinted at a potential Senate run, challenging the seat currently occupied by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who transitioned from Democrat to independent. Speaking to Fox Business last month, Lake remarked, “I’m contemplating it,” adding, “I mean, I could go off and go back into media and make a fortune, but this is not the season for that.”
