An Arizona Superior Court judge has rejected Kari Lake’s request to examine signed ballot envelopes of 1.3 million early voters.
The most recent court ruling gives the 2022 Arizona Republican candidate for governor another loss in her third trial related to last year’s election, which appears to her supporters to be a coverup of a highly questionable election.
In an order filed Thursday, Maricopa County Judge John Hannah Jr. argued the release of the AZ ballots to Lake for examination would somehow undermine the ballot verification process in future elections.
So, blocking a candidate from seeing ballots is pretty much an end to all transparency for future elections. How many people are interpreting the ruling?
“Wow! How can you have fair elections if we can’t even review the ballot affidavits?! All these idiots says “save democracy” are simply working to destroy the republic! Where are the judges that actually stand for the Constitution anymore?” Ben Bergquam said in a Frontline America statement.
“The broad right of electoral participation outweighs the narrow interests of those who would continue to pick at the machinery of democracy,” Hannah wrote in a very confusing statement.
The majority of the two-day bench trial was spent hearing testimony from Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, who is named as a defendant. Richer explained Lake’s initial request to see the envelopes was turned down because state law mandates ballot envelope signatures remain confidential.
“We can’t release this, which is why we’ve said no to this plaintiff and others as well. It’s not discriminatory,” Richer said when questioned by attorneys for the county.
In Arizona, the envelopes for early voting ballots serve as affidavits in which voters declare, under penalty of perjury, that they are registered to vote in the county, haven’t already voted and will not vote again in that election. Releasing the ballot affidavit envelopes could have a “chilling effect” and lead to some voters either not voting or deliberately not signing their ballots, Richer said.
Here is the filing: