Arizona Court Rejects GOP Challenge to Election Results: ‘See You at the Supreme Court’

An Arizona state court on Friday rejected a challenge lodged by Dr. Kelli Ward, the state’s Republican Party chairwoman, prompting celebration from Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D). However, the Arizona Republican Party indicates that leadership intends to push the challenge to the Supreme Court.

“The court finds no fraud, no misconduct, and no effect on the outcome of the election,” Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Randall Warner ruled. “Plaintiff has not proven that the Biden/Harris ticket did not receive the highest number of votes.”

Ward’s lawsuit claimed that observers were not able to monitor in a meaningful way, and it also “targeted Arizona ballots that election workers duplicated so they could be read by a tabulation machine, which they allege resulted in votes flipping from President Donald Trump to President-elect Joe Biden, and the state’s method for verifying signatures on mail-in ballots,” as Forbes detailed:

The lawsuit also raised concerns about access for election observers, but the judge threw out that portion of the case Thursday, saying the complaint should have been brought earlier and not “when the only remedy would be to upend the entire election.”

The GOP plaintiffs asked the court at a hearing Friday to order the state to inspect duplicated and adjudicated ballots, claiming without evidence that there could be enough uncounted votes for Trump to change the election results.

Hobbs, who has a history of public disdain for President Trump and his supporters, even referring to Trump’s base as neo-Nazis, praised the ruling.

“The allegations in this case were baseless, and I had faith the court would continue to do the right thing. Today’s ruling affirms that faith. As we argued in court, it is time for this to stop,” she said, describing the claims of fraud, error, and misconduct as “vague” and “unsupported.” She also asserted the claims were “undermining the foundation of our democracy” — an assertion she made last month after rejecting a request for an independent analysis of voting data.

“Facts matter in a court of law, & the facts remain that this historic election had tremendous turnout and was both secure and accurate,” she added:

The allegations in this case were baseless, and I had faith the court would continue to do the right thing. Today’s ruling affirms that faith. As we argued in court, it is time for this to stop. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/7umKm05xTd

— Secretary Katie Hobbs (@SecretaryHobbs) December 5, 2020

The Republican Party of Arizona issued a pointed retort: “See you at the Supreme Court”:

See you at the Supreme Court. https://t.co/DgcTP3vTfz

— Arizona Republican Party (@AZGOP) December 5, 2020

Hobbs certified the state’s election results, giving the Grand Canyon State’s 11 electoral votes to Joe Biden, in light of this week’s election integrity hearing, which featured several witnesses alleging irregularities and instances of intimidation.

As Breitbart News reported:

Cybersecurity expert Army Col. (Ret.) Phillip Waldron testified on his research of Dominion voting machines and software in Michigan. He said the systems have a number of vulnerabilities and that the systems are indeed connected to the Internet and were on Election Day, despite what Dominion has asserted.

…

Anna Orth, a registered voter in Pima County, spoke about her alleged experience while volunteering as a poll observer on October 16 and a poll worker on November 3. She claimed that on October 16, she was not allowed in a room to watch the correcting of problematic ballots and was brought to another room where ballots were being separated from their envelopes. She said that not every table had a Republican.

…

Matt Braynard, founder of the Voter Integrity Fund and former data chief and strategist for the Trump campaign, said there were a “tremendous number of anomalies” and that Arizona was at the “forefront” of the anomalies found.

President Trump called into the hearing this week and criticized Gov. Doug Ducey (R), who has forcefully defended his state’s election results.

“On top of it, you have a governor named Ducey,” the president remarked. “He just rushed to sign certificates. … What’s that all about? He didn’t have to sign it. I say, why would he sign when you have these incredible hearings going on that’s showing such corruption and such horrible fraud?”

“You have to figure out what that’s all about with Ducey. He couldn’t go fast enough,” Trump said, adding that they are “not going to forget what Ducey just did.”