Court: Kari Lake can argue ballot envelopes, voter signatures are public record

By Jill Ryan
Howard Fischer/Capitol Media Services
Published: Wednesday, August 30, 2023 - 12:48pm

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2022 arizona midterm ballot
Sky Schaudt/KJZZ
An early ballot for the 2022 Arizona midterm election.

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge has granted Kari Lake a chance to argue that the 2022 election ballot envelopes — and the signatures on them — are subject to public scrutiny.

This continues Lake’s fight to try and overturn the 2022 gubernatorial election.

The judge will hear arguments in September on whether or not the state public records law applies to ballot envelopes and the voter signatures on them.

Lake’s argument as to why she must examine the envelopes has slightly changed with each court fight. For this one, she argues there are mismatched signatures.

Deputy County Attorney Joseph La Rue says Lake never raised the claim when she first sued to overturn the results — which closes off many legal options for her to try to claim victory, even if the ballot envelopes are made public, and she finds over 17,000 questionable signatures in her favor.

"If the requested documents were available through a public records request, ill-intended actors could conduct voter fraud on a massive scale," La Rue said.

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