Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake on Wednesday filed an Amicus Brief with the Arizona Supreme Court, urging them to hear a case brought by a member of the Arizona Republican Party challenging Arizona’s “unconstitutional voting system.”
“Voters have made it very clear that they are demanding nothing less than completely secure elections and we’re going to give it to them come hell or high water,” said Lake in a press release announcing the brief.
“I am pleased to see a leading contender for the governorship support the objective of ensuring that all Arizona voters receive the protection of our state constitution and of checking Secretary Hobbs’ reckless and unlawful behavior,” said attorney Alexander Kolodin.
Kolodin says he welcomes other candidates to join in the effort.
The underlying case seeks to address constitutional issues related to Arizona’s “no-excuse” mail-in voting and eliminate ballot drop boxes, which have allegedly been abused by ballot harvesters.
The Amicus Brief, filed by Lake’s attorney Tim LaSota reads in part:
LAKE’S INTEREST AND THE REASONS THE PROPOSED AMICUS BRIEF IS USEFUL TO THE COURT’S DISPOSITION
Kari Lake is a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor of Arizona. One of the first thing she noticed is the high level of interest that the people of the State have in an election system that produces an actual winner on Election Night, not days or weeks later. Many voters have been registered for long enough to remember what that was like.
As it turns out, Arizona’s no-excuse mail-in balloting system is not consistent with the Arizona Constitution. As it also turns out, Ms. Lake has heard from Arizona voters who have been pressured in the past to submit their mail-in ballots to elections officials or to simply give them to a third party for that person or persons to turn in. This type of a system is simply not consistent with secret balloting. Ms. Lake also regularly hears frustrations from voters about having to wait for days or weeks on end for a winner to be declared, and the distrust in the integrity of election that such delays sow.
The cause of action that this amicus pertains to is about elections. People vote for candidates and ballot measures at elections, but only candidates have the ability to speak. Ms. Lake offers the unique perspective of a major statewide candidate. But this is not simply a political perspective. As the petition and the amicus show, this position is grounded in our State Constitution. Ms. Lake is a new face to politics, and she brings a new perspective, one willing to re-examine whether the entrenched system of no-excuse mail-in voting actually comports with the Arizona Constitution.
Ms. Lake’s perspective reflects the sentiment of the thousands of Arizonans that Ms. Lake has made contact with. For this reason, Ms. Lake believes this Court would benefit from this amicus.
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