On Tuesday, attorneys for Republican candidate for Arizona Attorney General Abe Hamadeh and the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit over the handling of the 2022 General Election.
The lawsuit, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, names every county recorder and board of supervisor in the state.
The lawsuit is clear that it does not allege “any fraud, manipulation or other intentional wrongdoing that would impugn the outcomes of the November 8, 2022 General Election.” It does however claim that election was rife with “gross incompetence and mismanagement.”
“The election was, however, afflicted with certain errors and inaccuracies in the management of some polling place operations, and in the processing and tabulation of some ballots. The cumulative effect of these mistakes is material to the race for Arizona Attorney General, where the candidates are separated by just 510 votes out of more than 2.5 million ballots cast-a margin of two one-hundredths of one percent (0.02%),” argue Hamadeh’s attorneys.
Plaintiffs allege that the failure on the part of Maricopa County led to voters being denied the opportunity to vote. Plaintiffs also allege irregularities with signature verification on mail-in ballots.
Attorneys are seeking an ‘injunction or other order pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 16-650 and 16-676(C) requiring the Secretary of State to declare Contestant Abraham Hamadeh elected to the office of Arizona Attorney General and to issue to Contestant a certificate of election.”
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
Plaintiffs seek the following remedies:
An order requiring the Maricopa County Defendants to process and tabulate all provisional ballots and early ballots submitted by qualified electors who had “checked in” at a voting center but did not cast a regular ballot in the November 8, 2022 general election, and to amend the canvass results for the office of Arizona Attorney General accordingly.
b. An order requiring the Maricopa County Defendants to afford to all individuals who were refused a provisional ballot a reasonable opportunity to cast in the November 8, 2022 general election a provisional ballot, which will be duly processed and tabulated in conformance with applicable law, and to amend the canvass results for the office of Arizona Attorney General accordingly.
c. An order requiring the County Defendants to amend the canvass results for the office of Arizona Attorney General to correct erroneous tabulations associated with the inaccurate duplication of ballots.
d. An order requiring the County Defendants to amend the canvass results for the office of Arizona Attorney General to correct erroneous tabulations associated with the inaccurate adjudication of ballots.
e. An order proportionately reducing the tabulated returns of early ballots to exclude early ballots that were accompanied by an uncured affidavit signature that is inconsistent with the signature on file in the putative voter’s registration record.
f. An order requiring the Secretary of State to amend the canvass of statewide returns to reflect amendments to county-level canvass results made by one or more of the County Defendants.
g. An injunction or other order pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 16-650 and 16-676(C) prohibiting the Secretary of State from declaring the Contestee elected to the office of Arizona Attorney General or from issuing to Contestee a certificate of election.
h. An injunction or other order pursuant to A.R.S. § 16-676(C) nullifying and setting aside any certificate of election issued by the Secretary of State to the Contestee for the office of Arizona Attorney General.
i. An injunction or other order pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 16-650 and 16-676(C) requiring the Secretary of State to declare Contestant Abraham Hamadeh elected to the office of Arizona Attorney General and to issue to Contestant a certificate of election.