Arizona Court of Appeals rejects Kari Lake’s election challenge
By Brian Rokus and Jack Forrest, CNN
The Arizona Court of Appeals has rejected Kari Lake’s challenge to the result of the Arizona gubernatorial election after she appealed an earlier ruling from the superior court.
Lake had requested a declaration from the court that she — and not her opponent, Arizona’s Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs who won the election by about 17,000 votes — was the actual winner of the election.
“Her request for relief fails because the evidence presented to the superior court ultimately supports the court’s conclusion that voters were able to cast their ballots, that votes were counted correctly, and that no other basis justifies setting aside the election results,” the Court of Appeals decision stated.
The appeal rejection marks the latest defeat for Lake, who has continually doubled down on her support for former President Donald Trump and false claims that he 2020 election was stolen, a central rallying call in her 2022 gubernatorial bid.
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Clint Hickman, a Republican, praised the Arizona Court of Appeals’ rejection of Lake’s claims.
“As we have said, every valid vote was counted in a midterm election that saw near-record turnout,” Hickman said in a statement Thursday, adding: “It’s way past time to move on.”
Lake’s legal team broadly criticized Maricopa County’s management of the election during the superior court trial.
With the appeal, Lake sought to reverse Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson’s conclusion that her team could not prove that someone intentionally caused Maricopa County’s ballot-on-demand printers to malfunction, which Lake falsely claimed was part of a deliberate effort to rig the vote against her.
In a tweet Thursday night, Lake said, “We are NOT finished,” adding that she was planning to take the case to the Arizona Supreme Court.
“Buckle up America,” she said.
The-CNN-Wire
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CNN’s Josh Campbell, Gregory Clary, Marshall Cohen, Sonnet Swire, Eric Bradner, Kyung Lah and Kate Sullivan contributed to this report.
