After a two day trial, Maricopa County Superior Court Randall Warner ruled there is no evidence of fraud, misconduct, an erroneous vote count nor illegal votes in the 2020 election results in Maricopa County, just as expected.
https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1335008491237482496
See Minute Entry Order.
The Arizona Mirror reports, Judge: No fraud, misconduct, illegal votes in Maricopa County’s 2020 election:
Judge Randall Warner said there is neither evidence of fraud, misconduct, an erroneous vote count nor illegal votes in the 2020 election results in Maricopa County.
“The Plaintiff in an election contest has a high burden of proof and the actions of election officials are presumed to be free from fraud and misconduct,” Warner wrote. “The Court finds no misconduct, no fraud, and no effect on the outcome of the election.”
In Friday’s findings, Warner explained that Ward had to prove any “misconduct rose to the level of fraud, or that the result would have been different had proper procedures been used.”
Earlier in the week, the judge allowed for 100 ballots to be reviewed by lawyers and forensic document examiners, and Maricopa County voluntarily provided another 1,526 ballots for review. Only nine had an error, Warner wrote.
“The duplication process for the presidential election was 99.45% accurate,” he said. “And there is no evidence that the inaccuracies were intentional or part of a fraudulent scheme. They were mistakes. And given both the small number of duplicate ballots and the low error rate, the evidence does not show any impact on the outcome.”
Warner issued his findings after two days of evidentiary hearings.
Judge Warner also ruled that the Defendants may seek payment for attorneys’ fees and costs from the Arizona Republican Party.
On Twitter, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, who is not named in the lawsuit but intervened in the case, said it is “time to stop” allegations that the 2020 election was inaccurate and fraudulent.
“Facts matter in a court of law, & the facts remain that this historic election had tremendous turnout and was both secure and accurate,” she said.
The Arizona Republican Party replied to Hobbs’ tweet, “See you at the Supreme Court.” Hobbs promptly answered, “Can’t wait.”
Warner, the judge, said in his findings that an “immediate appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court” is permitted.
Kelli Ward will suffer yet another defeat on appeal at the Arizona Supreme Court.
In addition to the “Kraken” complaint (.pdf) filed in federal court on Wednesday by the Kolodin Law Group and Sidney Powell , a new Petition for Election Contest (.pdf) was filed on Friday by the law office of David Spilsbury. These Republican electors just will not accept the reality of defeat. The courts should impose sanctions on these plaintiffs and their attorneys for these frivolous lawsuits.
https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1335027569696108546
https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1335022429064851456
Election law expert Rick Hasen has this helpful practice tip for these non-election law lawyers:
The timing here matters. Any final determination of the slate of electors made in a state by the so-called “safe harbor deadline” under the federal Electoral Count Act is entitled to be conclusively accepted as valid by Congress. This year that deadline is December 8. The electors themselves vote on December 14.
Beyond the “safe harbor” date on Tuesday, the state’s slate of electors for Joe Biden is considered to be locked in for the December 14 Electoral College vote. It is highly unlikely that any of the three cases above will be resolved by Tuesday in favor of the plaintiffs. They are not entitled to any of the relief they seek under the Constitution and Arizona law, as House Speaker Rusty Bowers so aptly explained on Friday.
So what is the point of all this frivolous litigation?
UPDATE: Jeremy Duda reports that David Spilsbury has balked at proceeding with his frivolous lawsuit. This just leaves the “Kraken” lawsuit by the Kolodin Law Group and Sidney Powell.
Mesa lawyer David Spilsbury, who filed a lawsuit with the wild, unsupported claim that more than 371k ballots were either illegally counted or illegally not counted, has dismissed his own case after @SecretaryHobbs' attorneys threatened to seek attorney fees.
— Jeremy Duda (@jeremyduda) December 7, 2020
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In the “Kraken” lawsuit, U.S. District Court Judge Diane Humetewa has scheduled a preliminary hearing for 9:15 a.m. Tuesday to consider Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ request to throw out the case. Given that this very same copy and paste lawsuit has been harshly rejected by federal judges in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia, expect the same result in Arizona.
The Arizona Supreme Court accepted the GOP case for review (it is automatic). The justices set expedited deadlines for the parties to file legal briefs outlining their claims and rebuttals, and they opted not to hear any oral arguments on the matter. Expect a ruling on Tuesday, the “safe harbor” date.
Trumpsters can try to delegitimize Biden’s win, but facts are facts as Jennifer Rubin explains, “The size of Joe Biden’s victory matters. And it is huge.” (or “yuuuge” as Trump would say), https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/04/size-bidens-win-matters-it-is-huge/
The refusal by Republicans to acknowledge President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory is remarkable in its contempt for democracy and defiance of reality …
Biden not only received a majority of the popular vote, but also cleared 51 percent — the largest vote percentage obtained against an incumbent president since 1932 [when FDR defeated Hoover] and a bigger percentage of the popular vote than any Republican president since George H.W. Bush in 1988, when Bush was essentially running for a third Ronald Reagan term. In the process, Biden amassed the largest total number of ballots in U.S. history. He pummeled Trump by more than 7 million votes (and exceeded Barack Obama’s 2008 vote total by more than 11 million). That margin is bigger than Massachusetts’ entire population; in fact, only 14 states have a population of more than 7 million. Biden’s popular vote margin by percentage (4.4 percent) far surpasses Obama’s 2012 victory over Mitt Romney.
Why is it important to emphasize the magnitude of Biden’s victory? Because, far from narrow, it represents the overwhelming verdict of the voters. If there is such a thing as a mandate, Biden has one.
Rick Hasen explains, “Trump’s Continuing Failing Lawsuits as a Loss Leader, Grift, and Delegitimization Device”, https://electionlawblog.org/?p=119328
[T]he lawsuits keep coming and coming. They make much more sense when one thinks of them as about grift and delegitimizing the upcoming Biden presidency.
As to grift: Trump is spending perhaps a few hundred thousand dollars on lawsuits (he hasn’t hired leading election lawyers) and spent about $3 million on a failed, partial recall in Wisconsin. But the campaign has brought in [over] $200 million since the election. The lawsuits act as loss leader that brings people into the store to spend lots of money. As of now, 75% of the money raised does not go to for the litigation fight but is going to Trump’s new leadership PAC which he can use as a kind of personal slush fund. He’s going to be well situated to engage in some self-dealing through this fund thanks to the porous rules for leadership PACs.
As to delegitimization: As I was driving today, I saw a “Stop the Steal” protest on a freeway overpass with a couple of dozen demonstrators in Thousand Oaks, CA. The false message is getting through loud and clear to Trump’s most ardent supporters that Biden has stolen the election. No amount of evidence or loss of court cases will convince them otherwise. Indeed, the more they lose, the more it demonstrates a vast conspiracy. It’s disgusting and horrible and will have long term bad consequences for our democracy.
Trump is likely doing this for his ego to explain his loss to Joe Biden and for the grift.
“So what is the point of all this frivolous litigation?”
To permanantly plant a whiff of corruption on Biden’s presidency; just as endless hearings in Congress planted one on Hillary Clinton’s campaign over emails and Benghazi, or the Whitewater investigation of President Clinton. Set off enough stink bombs and what people remember is that there was something stinky about it.
To ensure that any mention of Biden’s win in the media going forwards contains the phrase “..and was extensively litigated by the GOP, who ultimately lost” planting that there were legitimate reasons for the protracted legal fight.
And not least, as an ongoing gambit to grift money from the trumpies.
I agree, but the attorneys bringing these frivolous lawsuits should face sanctions from the court, and disciplinary action from the state bar. I’m not sure they’ve fully considered the cost of participating in this sham. They must believe that they can get away with this without ever paying any price.