The attorney general race in Arizona was recently called in favor of Democratic candidate Kris Mayes by a mere 510 vote margin over Republican candidate Abe Hamadeh, but not everyone is prepared to accept that purported result.
Hamadeh on Tuesday filed a lawsuit to formally challenge the reported outcome that alleged “gross incompetence and mismanagement” by election officials, the Western Journal reported.
Lawsuit filed
“Arizonans demand answers and deserve transparency about the gross incompetence and mismanagement of the General Election by certain election officials. I will not stop fighting until ALL voters receive justice. See you in court,” Hamadeh tweeted on Tuesday along with a screenshot of the first page of the filed complaint.
Arizonans demand answers and deserve transparency about the gross incompetence and mismanagement of the General Election by certain election officials. I will not stop fighting until ALL voters receive justice.
See you in court. pic.twitter.com/5jJ6WWt8IK
— Abe Hamadeh (@AbrahamHamadeh) November 23, 2022
He will not be fighting this legal battle alone, either, as Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel shared Hamadeh’s tweet and wrote, “The @GOP is proud to join in this legal action. Maricopa County’s election failures disenfranchised Arizonans. We’re going to court to get the answers voters deserve.”
According to the Western Journal, Hamadeh’s lawsuit levels four major allegations of errors that caused him and others to be highly skeptical of the reported results of the election.
Those alleged errors include the improper or lack of training for poll workers with regard to election processes that left many workers and voters confused, errors involving duplicate ballots being counted, errors with electronic duplications, and the “erroneous and unlawful counting of early ballot’s lacking affidavit signatures,” according to the complaint.
“Only way to provide accountability and restore confidence”
In a statement provided to the Arizona Republic, Hamadeh said, “The voters of Arizona demand answers and deserve transparency about the gross incompetence and mismanagement of the General Election by certain election officials. Pervasive errors by our election officials resulted in the disenfranchisement of countless Arizonans who had their voices silenced.”
“Arizonans deserve to have an election system that is transparent and fair and right now we have neither,” he added. “Today’s challenge is the only way to provide accountability and restore confidence in our broken election system.”
The media outlet noted that the Republican candidate is seeking a court-ordered injunction to block the certification of his Democratic opponent’s purported win, though the suit also asks the court to compel the certification of the election on his behalf if the evidence proves that, barring the errors and irregularities that allegedly disenfranchised potentially hundreds, if not thousands of voters, he would have clearly won the race.
Democrats dismissive of filed lawsuit
The Arizona Republic further reported that Democratic candidate Mayes let it be known through his attorney that a motion to dismiss the “devoid of actual facts” lawsuit would soon be filed. Likewise, Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs — who controversially oversaw her own race to be purportedly elected as governor — issued a dismissive statement against the “legally baseless and factually speculative” lawsuit.
Meanwhile, given the exceptionally close margin of just 510 votes in the attorney general race, it has gone into an automatic recount per state law, though that recount, oddly enough, won’t begin until December 5, after the disputed outcome has already been formally certified.
