(DCWatchdog.com) – The 2022 Arizona gubernatorial vote challenge by Republican candidate Kari Lake has suffered a defeat after a judge ruled against her in her election lawsuit.
Former Fox News anchor Lake, an ally of former President Donald Trump, lost last month’s election by 0.6 percentage points, about 17,000 votes.
She had asked Judge Peter Thompson to nix the results in Maricopa County, Arizona’s largest, with 4.5 million people, over alleged election violations.
Lake insisted malfunctioning voting machines and long lines prevented many of her supporters from voting.
In a 10-page ruling on Christmas Eve, however, Judge Peter Thompson declared he had seen no “clear and convincing” evidence that any alleged misconduct impacted the vote result, Fox 10 reported, as cited by The New York Post.
Previously, Thompson had heeded some of Lake’s requests, namely, the inspection of randomly chosen ballots.
The ruling against her may have killed the Republican’s chances to overturn the election results. Nevertheless, Lake vowed to keep up her legal battle. Her rival, Democrat Katie Hobbs, is set to be sworn in as Governor of Arizona on January 2.
“My Election Case provided the world with evidence that proves our elections are run outside of the law,” she wrote on Twitter after hearing the ruling in the courtroom.
“This Judge did not rule in our favor. However, for the sake of restoring faith and honesty in our elections, I will appeal his ruling,” the GOP candidate added.
In his ruling, Thompson noted the technical experts’ testimonies during the trial did “not nearly approach the degree of precision needed to conclude that the election results were tainted,” as cited by CNN.
“[Lake’s] own witness testified before this Court that … printer failures were largely the result of unforeseen mechanical failure,” the judge noted.
His ruling stated that Lake’s legal team failed to demonstrate evidence of an intervention to cause Maricopa County’s ballot-on-demand printers to malfunction.
“Every single witness before the Court disclaimed any personal knowledge of such misconduct. The Court cannot accept speculation or conjecture in place of clear and convincing evidence,” Thompson declared.
Bill Gates, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman and a Republican, reacted to the ruling against Kari Lake by calling it “a win for Arizona voters and American democracy.”
“Arizona courts have made it clear that frivolous political theater meant to undermine elections will not be tolerated,” Gates stated.
Arizona judge rules against Kari Lake in election lawsuit https://t.co/gzfqtTLbr7 pic.twitter.com/1qS4N9k9SW
— New York Post (@nypost) December 24, 2022
