Kari Lake’s election lawsuit in Arizona moves to trial this week, but only on two of the 10 counts after a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled Monday to dismiss most of the case. The Republican candidate for governor of Arizona filed the lawsuit earlier this month to overturn the results of the race. File Photo courtesy Kari Lake/Twitter
Dec. 20 (UPI) — A Maricopa County Superior Court judge dismissed most of Republican Kari Lake’s lawsuit Monday night as she seeks to overturn the results of the governor’s race in Arizona where she lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs.
In his ruling, Judge Peter Thompson dismissed eight out of 10 claims in Lake’s lawsuit. Instead, the judge said he will move forward with the trial scheduled for this week, but only on two counts.
The first count that Thompson will allow involves Lake’s allegation that the printers malfunctioned on election day, leaving them susceptible to hacking. The judge ruled that Lake must prove the printer malfunctions were intentional and that they affected the election results.
The second count deals with Lake’s allegation that there were violations of the chain of custody for the ballots.
Thompson dismissed the other eight counts that will not be presented at trial. Those counts include Lake’s allegations that there was a violation of freedom of speech, invalid signatures on mail-in ballots, a violation of equal protection, due process, secrecy clause, incorrect certification, inadequate remedy and a violation of constitutional rights.
A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday morning.
“Our election case is going to trial,” Lake tweeted Monday night. “Katie Hobbs’ attempt to have our case thrown out FAILED. She will have to take the stand and testify. Buckle up, America. This is far from over.”
Lake, who was backed by former President Donald Trump, filed her lawsuit on Dec. 9, calling the election process “illegitimate.”
“If the process was illegitimate then so are the results. Stay tuned, folks,” Lake said earlier this month. “Furthermore, if the process was legitimate then so are the results. Let’s find out.”
In the 70-page lawsuit, Lake made accusations about the election — which was won by Hobbs, Arizona’s Democratic secretary of state. Lake named Hobbs and Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer as defendants, along with other election officials.
“Lake received the greatest number of votes and is entitled to be named the winner,” the lawsuit reads.
Lake claimed in her lawsuit that the “number of illegal votes cast” in the election “far exceeds the 17,117-vote margin” between the two candidates after Arizona certified the election results on Dec. 5.
