Republican Arizona attorney general candidate Abe Hamadeh earned a big win in the Mohave County courts on Tuesday that could pave the way for a dramatic trial.
Hamadeh, who lost to Democrat Kris Mayes by a meager 511 votes in the November midterm elections, will have his day in court on Friday, according to court documents obtained by Democracy Docket.
Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen dismissed only one of five counts presented by Hamadeh’s legal team.
The dismissed count pertains to allegations regarding illegal votes and unverified early ballots.
“With regard to Count V, this allegation of illegal votes is based on the early voting provision and the procedures to verify ballots that are contained in the Elections Procedure Manual (hereinafter ‘EPM’),” the court document says. “There is not an allegation of election workers improperly not complying with the EPM.
Trending:
“The procedure in the EPM being challenged has been in place since 2019 and should not be the subject of a post-election challenge. The Court finds the doctrine of laches applies to Count V as the procedures in the EPM should have been challenged prior to election. This count must be dismissed.”
That still leaves the other four counts, all of which will be proceeding to an evidentiary hearing on Friday.
The counts moving forward paint a damning portrait of incompetence and malfeasance that could easily lend itself to significantly altering a 511-vote victory.
The first count of the election challenge specifically targets Maricopa County and alleges “erroneous count of votes and election board misconduct; wrongful disqualification of provisional and early ballots.”
Do you think the Arizona midterm election was a disaster?
Yes: 86% (6 Votes)
No: 14% (1 Votes)
The second count also specifically targets Maricopa County and similarly alleges “erroneous count of votes and election board misconduct; wrongful exclusion of provisional voters.”
The third count, which targets multiple election officials — including Mayes and Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs — alleges “erroneous count of votes: inaccurate ballot duplications.”
The final count moving forward alleges “illegal votes and erroneous count of votes: improper ballot adjudications.”
Given the razor-thin margin in the race, a decision in Hamadeh’s favor on each of the aforementioned counts could significantly impact the election results.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake tweeted about his court victory on Tuesday.
“Want some more good news?” Lake said. “@AbrahamHamadeh’s Election Lawsuit is going to trial. Dismissal FAILED.”
Want some more good news? @AbrahamHamadeh’s Election Lawsuit is going to trial. Dismissal FAILED.
Something big is happening.
Can you feel it? pic.twitter.com/UkjLMsOS31— Kari Lake (@KariLake) December 20, 2022
She had one more question for those following along these whirlwind proceedings: “Something big is happening. Can you feel it?”
Hamadeh’s lawsuit echoes other challenges cast in Arizona, most notably Lake’s own legal battle over her race against Hobbs.
She did have eight of 10 claims thrown out, a stark 20 percent success rate compared wth Hamadeh’s 80 percent success rate, and Jantzen’s ruling appeared to explain that discrepancy.
“This case is different from those cases because the Plaintiff is not alleging political motives or fraud or personal agendas being pushed. It is simply alleging misconduct by mistake, or omission by election officials, led to erroneous count of votes and which if true could have led to an uncertain result,” the judge wrote in his ruling.
That being said, Lake’s fight is still ongoing with two significant claims moving forward.
Depending on how that trial and Hamadeh’s trial go, things could look very different for Arizonans from how things looked on Nov. 8.
