The Republican Party in four counties has filed lawsuits against the state’s 15 county recorders and the Secretary of State. Republican Party leaders in Maricopa, Apache, Yuma and Navajo counties filed the lawsuit Wednesday night, claiming unequal enforcement of the state’s Election Day deadline.
We want all 15 counties to adhere to the same standards and timeline in fixing possible signature discrepancies on mail-in ballots. Honestly can’t understand how anyone would disagree with this. Voters have rights regardless of where they live.
— Jonathan W. Lines (@JWLines) November 8, 2018
The lawsuit alleges that the state’s 15 county recorders don’t follow a uniform standard for allowing voters to adjust problems with their mail-in ballots, and that two counties are improperly allowing those fixes after Election Day.
The latest polling numbers released from the Secretary of State’s office show Sinema with a slight lead over Martha McSally. Currently, Sinema has 932,870 votes and McSally has 923,260.
The new totals have raised even more questions about the handling of mail-in ballots.
“A foundational principle of American democracy and our justice system is that all votes are treated equally,” said Arizona Republican Party Chairman Jonathan Lines. “This equal protection under the law is enshrined in our Constitution. It is not fair nor just that voters in one county are treated differently under the law from other voters in Arizona. This suit seeks immediate redress of any inequality between ballots cast across Arizona. We stand behind our local county parties demand for equal treatment.”
The lawsuit says Maricopa County, which includes most of metro Phoenix, and Pima County, which includes Tucson, are giving their voters an opportunity that’s unavailable to people who don’t live in the state’s two largest counties, according to Cronkite News.