On Tuesday (December 20), a judge gave the go-ahead to Arizona’s Republican candidate for Attorney General Abraham Hamadeh’s lawsuit.
Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen asserted Hamadeh’s lawsuit was “different,” pointing to the Republican not leaning on arguments of election fraud, “political motives,” or “personal agendas” to substantiate his dispute.
Instead, Jantzen pointed out that Hamadeh — and fellow plaintiff the Republican National Committee — had alleged election officials had participated in “misconduct by mistake, or omission,” which led to the votes being counted incorrectly. Explaining that the plaintiffs noted that if the allegations are true, a correct count could lead to an “uncertain result.”
Hamadeh was facing off against Democratic Secretary of State Kris Mayes, sustaining a loss by 511 votes after 2.5 million ballots were cast in the race.
The Republican State Attorney General candidate subsequently filed a joint lawsuit with the RNC arguing the tabulation was incorrect because of mismanagement and errors made by election officials.
On Tuesday, Jantzen dismissed four of the five motions to dismiss the lawsuit, allowing the lawsuit to move forward on counts of election board misconduct — especially in Maricopa County — inaccurate ballot duplications, wrongful exclusion of provisional voters, and erroneously counted votes.
Jantzen also ordered an evidentiary hearing to take place on Friday (December 23).
Hamadeh filed the lawsuit against Mayes and outgoing Secretary of State and Arizona’s governor-elect Katie Hobbs and a host of election officials.
The lawsuit is one of several Republicans who lost their races and have brought against Arizona officials.
