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☆ Fact Check-Heat map showing Republican voters in Maricopa County does not prove that voter fraud was committed during the midterm elections
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A photograph of a heat map showing Republican voters in Maricopa County, Arizona, has been shared online along with unfounded claims that fraud was committed during the 2022 U.S. midterm elections. The Maricopa County Elections Department told Reuters that the picture circulating online has been cropped and that claims they only have the Republican heat map in their offices are false. In the MCTEC hallway, we have a Democratic In-Person Voter Turnout Map, a Republican In-Person Voter Turnout Map, and a Total Voter In-Person Turnout Map”, Gilbertson said. The Maricopa County Elections Department has maps with voter data on its website, including one of voting precincts by party majority (scroll down “Geography layers”) (here). A photograph of a heat map showing only Republican voters in Maricopa County does not prove that fraud was committed during the 2022 U.S. midterm elections, contrary to claims on social media.

A judge on Monday dismissed most of a lawsuit filed by Kari Lake, the GOP candidate who lost Arizona’s governor race in November, but allowed her to go to trial with a pair of claims challenging Democratic Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs’ victory. Thompson did not take a position on the validity of the two claims, but said Lake should be allowed to present her case. Lake asked a court to toss Maricopa County's results to declare her the winner or hold another vote in the county. In his decision, the judge dismissed eight of Lake’s claims, including Lake’s allegation that Hobbs and Richer attempted to censor her by flagging her social media posts containing baseless election claims for removal. Lake is a prominent booster of Trump’s false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

☆ Kari Lake Gets Hearing on Claims of Arizona Election Misconduct
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Eliza Collins | Laura Kusisto | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Defeated Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is scheduled to receive a two-day court hearing beginning Wednesday to air some of her allegations that electoral improprieties caused her to lose the race, but a judge said she’ll have to prove there was intentional misconduct that affected the outcome. An Arizona judge on Monday dismissed most of Ms. Lake’s claims that illegal voting and misconduct cost her a victory, saying they weren’t proper or valid. But Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson said Ms. Lake should be given the opportunity to attempt to prove a pair of claims related to the malfunctioning of ballot printers and the handling of ballots.

☆ The man behind Trump World’s myth of rigged voting machines
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +32 min

He publicly announced his purchase of Montgomery’s data in August at a gathering in Missouri of hundreds of his followers. “I own it,” Lindell said of Montgomery’s data, touting it as irrefutable proof Trump was cheated. On Nov. 9, far-right podcaster Joe Oltmann linked Montgomery’s Hammer and Scorecard claims to a parallel conspiracy theory: that widely used voting machines manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems were rigged to flip votes from Trump to Biden. Powell amended her complaint a few days later and dropped the expert’s declaration and the references to Montgomery’s claims. But the government said in a recent court filing that the order has nothing to do with election data.

An Arizona judge on Friday dismissed Republican Mark Finchem's lawsuit seeking a new secretary of state election after he lost the race in November to Democrat Adrian Fontes. In her ruling, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa Julian dismissed Finchem’s lawsuit against Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, and Fontes, confirming Fontes' election win. The judge dismissed his misconduct allegations with prejudice — barring them from being brought back in another court — and called some of his claims "fatally flawed." He also supported a partisan review of Maricopa County’s election results, even though the review reaffirmed Biden’s victory. Kari Lake, the GOP candidate who lost Arizona's governor's race, filed a lawsuit this month challenging certification of the state's election results and seeking a court order that declares her the winner.

Dec 9 (Reuters) - Defeated Republican candidate Kari Lake sued state elections officials on Friday to challenge the counting and certification of the midterm election and ask to be declared the winner. The suit targets Lake's opponent, Governor-elect Katie Hobbs, who is currently Arizona's secretary of state, along with top officials in Maricopa County, according to the filing on Friday with the Maricopa County Superior Court. Lake was one of the most high-profile Republican candidates in the midterm elections to embrace former President Donald Trump's false claims of voter fraud in 2020. The suit on Friday asks for an order declaring that Lake is the winner of the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election, or alternatively throwing out the results and requiring the state's Maricopa county to conduct a new election. read moreLake, a former television news anchor, was one of a string of Trump-aligned Republican candidates who lost battleground state races in the midterm elections.

☆ Republican Kari Lake files lawsuit in bid to overturn Arizona election
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Zoë Richards | Zoë Richards Is The Evening Politics Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Kari Lake, the GOP candidate who lost Arizona's governor race in November, filed a lawsuit Friday challenging certification of the state's election results and seeking a court order that declares her the winner. The 70-page lawsuit from Lake, a prominent election denier and Trump ally, contains numerous inaccuracies about the election won by Democratic Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs, Arizona's secretary of state. “Lake received the greatest number of votes and is entitled to be named the winner,” the lawsuit states. “Kari Lake needs attention like a fish needs water — and independent experts and local election officials of both parities have made clear that this was a sage, secure, and fair election,” Hobbs’ campaign manager said. “Arizonans made their voices heart and elected Katie Hobbs as their governor.

☆ Republican Kari Lake files lawsuit challenging her loss in the Arizona gubernatorial election
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kari Lake on Friday filed a lawsuit challenging her loss in the Arizona gubernatorial election. Lake is asking to be named the winner of the race or for a new vote to be held in Maricopa County. Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs last month narrowly defeated Lake in the general election 50.3%-49.7%. In the general election, Hobbs edged out Lake in Maricopa County 51%-49%, netting roughly 42,000 votes in the county out of more than 1.5 million ballots cast. "If the process was illegitimate, then so are the results," Lake tweeted on Friday after announcing the Maricopa County suit.

CNN —Defeated Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has filed suit in Arizona Superior Court challenging the certification of the state’s election. “Accordingly, Lake is entitled to an order setting aside the election in its entirety and ordering a new election,” Lake’s attorneys write in the suit. All four GOP nominees that were at the top of the Arizona ticket had echoed Trump’s lies about the 2020 election. Arizona was a key 2022 battleground for governor and Senate, and likely will be again for president in 2024. Lake has repeatedly said she would not have certified Joe Biden’s win in Arizona in 2020.

Put another way, more Black children in metro Phoenix will go through a child maltreatment investigation than won’t. Almost all described a system so omnipresent among Black families that it has created a kind of communitywide dread: of that next knock on the door, of that next warrantless search of their home. Many Black families first moved there as a result of redlining and racial covenants that blocked them from renting or owning property elsewhere. In Maricopa County, Black children experienced child welfare investigations at one of the highest rates among large counties nationally, and nearly three times the rate of their white peers, from 2015 to 2019. But throughout the country, investigations were more pervasive among Black families.

Special counsel Jack Smith has subpoenaed local officials in key presidential swing states for any and all communications involving former President Donald Trump, his campaign and a series of aides and allies who assisted in his effort to overturn the 2020 election. A spokesperson for Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson confirmed that Smith’s office had sent a subpoena. Scott McDonnell, the Dane County clerk, confirmed to NBC News that his county had received a virtually identical subpoena as Milwaukee. An Arizona elections official confirmed that Maricopa County had received such a subpoena this month with similar demands for those communications. "Maricopa County has received a subpoena and will comply," Fields Moseley, a county spokesperson, said.

☆ Justice Department Subpoenas State Officials on 2020 Election Communications With Trump
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Byron Tau | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—Local officials in three critical battleground states said they have received subpoenas from the Justice Department that appear to be part of an expanding investigation into efforts by former President Donald Trump and people representing him to reverse the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Four counties in Michigan, Arizona and Wisconsin received federal grand jury subpoenas, officials there said. The counties—Maricopa in Arizona, Wayne in Michigan and Dane and Milwaukee in Wisconsin—are all in swing states targeted by Mr. Trump and his allies in the aftermath of his loss in the November 2020 election.

☆ Justice Department subpoenas officials in 3 states for communications with Trump in expansion of January 6 probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Special counsel Jack Smith subpoenaed election officials for communications with Trump. These are the first known subpoenas issued by Smith. AG Merrick Garland recently appointed Smith to oversee criminal investigations involving Trump. The subpoenas were sent in recent days to Dane County, Wisconsin; Maricopa County, Arizona; Wayne County, Michigan; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, per the Post. All three states were at the heart of Trump's effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The special counsel overseeing two federal investigations related to Donald Trump has issued grand jury subpoenas to local election officials in Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin as part of an inquiry into efforts to overturn the Republican former president's loss in the 2020 U.S. election. The subpoenas also sought communications involving a list of Trump's attorneys during the 2020 campaign including Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Sidney Powell, Justin Clark, Jenna Ellis and Cleta Mitchell. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Nov. 18, three days after Trump announced his 2024 presidential run, appointed Smith to take over the two Justice Department investigations. A spokesperson for Arizona's Maricopa County confirmed receiving a subpoena and said officials will comply, but declined to give further details. The subpoenas sent to officials in Wisconsin, Arizona and Michigan resemble the ones previously sent to other witnesses including Republican Party leaders and state elected officials in key states from the 2020 election.

☆ Fact Check-Election Day turnout numbers do not account for Arizona early voting
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Data showing low Democratic turnout on Election Day does not account for early mail-in and ballot drop-off votes. One of the Uplift charts, titled “Maricopa County E-Day Check Ins,” shows 16.6% Democrat, 30.7% Other, and 52.7% Republican check ins at Election Day in Maricopa County. These included 250,000 (16%) in-person votes on Election Day, 290,000 (19%) early ballot drop-offs on Election Day and 1.02 million (65%) early ballots before Election Day. “The short answer to why this is incorrect is the data is from primary election day 8/2/2022,” Almy said. “Voters in the primary have no relevance to the general election.”Megan Gilbertson, communications director for Maricopa County, said “Maricopa County has not asserted either of the claims stated that article.”VERDICTMissing context.

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs sued a Republican-controlled county Monday after it refused to certify its election results by the state's statutory deadline. The lawsuit, filed in Arizona Superior Court, aims to compel the Cochise County Board of Supervisors to certify the county's results from the Nov. 8 election. Officials in Cochise, one of 15 counties in the state, voted earlier in the day against certifying its election results. Under state law, Arizona is supposed to certify its results by Dec. 8 — with or without certification from all of the counties. Cochise County is the only county in the state that refused to certify its results.

☆ Maricopa County report rebuffs claims by Republicans who sowed doubt on election integrity
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Summer-Concepcion-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Summer Concepcion | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Officials in Arizona's largest county are blaming prominent Republicans for sowing doubt about a secure alternative for voters who encountered malfunctioning vote tabulation machines on Election Day. Maricopa County issued a report on the voting glitches Sunday, a day before it is set certify the results of the November election and a week after the state's Republican attorney general's office demanded answers on widespread voting machine glitches on Election Day. Some GOP politicians and pundits swiftly seized on those issues to push misleading or false information. Lake, who lost to Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, attacked Maricopa County officials over both the technical issues on Election Day and the prolonged vote count. Last week, Maricopa County confirmed that Bill Gates, the chairman of the county’s board of supervisors, had been moved to an undisclosed location for his safety following threats on social media related to the midterm elections.

☆ Republicans in one Arizona county refuse to certify election results
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Ned Parker | Linda So | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

-Republican officials who have embraced voter fraud theories resisted certifying the midterm election results in one Arizona county on Monday, defying a state deadline and setting the stage for a legal battle. REUTERS/Jim UrquhartoIn Cochise County, a conservative stronghold in southeastern Arizona, the two Republican members of the three-person board of supervisors voted to postpone certifying the county’s election results. On Monday, the Mohave board ultimately certified its election results but also criticized Maricopa’s performance. Arizona law requires counties to certify election results by Nov. 28, ahead of the state’s certification on Dec. 5. “In the last year, it’s become an unprecedented dereliction of duty for county officials to violate their oaths of office and refuse to certify election results, citing ‘gut feelings’ or alleged problems in jurisdictions other than their own,” Becker said.

☆ In Arizona, election deniers refuse to back down
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Ned Parker | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

FILE PHOTO: Supporters of Republican candidate for Arizona Governor Kari Lake and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters protest outside the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center as vote counting continues inside, in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., November 12, 2022. The defeat of Lake and other election deniers was seen as a powerful rebuke of candidates who echoed Trump’s myths of a stolen election. Republican activists urged voters not to use the secure box on Election Day, according to Maricopa County officials. Maricopa County on Sunday released a report detailing voter numbers by location on Election Day and was scheduled to certify election results on Monday. DELAYS IN CERTIFICATIONElsewhere in Arizona, two conservative counties, Mohave and Cochise, do not plan to certify election results until Monday, the final day to formally do so, following pressure by election deniers.

☆ Defeated Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake files lawsuit against Maricopa County officials, requesting records about printer issues on Election Day
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kari Lake filed a public records lawsuit against Maricopa County, Ariz., over the election, per AP. Lake, who ran for governor, has flagged several voting issues as ones that disenfranchised voters. Maricopa, the most populous county in the state, is set to certify its election results on Monday. Lake, a former television journalist, was edged out by Arizona Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in the general election 50.3%-49.7%. But Lake, who has refused to acknowledge Biden's 2020 win in Arizona, has so far declined to concede to Hobbs.

☆ Arizona's Republican governor congratulated his Democratic successor despite her Trump-backed opponent refusing to concede
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

This despite Hobbs' GOP opponent Kari Lake refusing to concede the race. Doug Ducey congratulated Democrat Katie Hobbs on Wednesday, after she secured enough votes to succeed him, despite the refusal of her Trump-backed GOP rival, Kari Lake, to accept defeat. Trump famously refused to accept defeat in the state after the 2020 presidential election, and stirred baseless voter fraud allegations. Arizona state election authorities have said there were printing issues with voting machines in around 70 voting centers, but that this did not prevent any voters from casting their ballots. Support for his election fraud "Big Lie" was one of the key criteria Trump used to select the candidates he endorsed in the 2022 midterms.

☆ Fact Check-No evidence Arizona governor-elect talked about ‘turning off voting machines’
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

There is no evidence that Katie Hobbs, the governor-elect of Arizona, has spoken about “turning off voting machines” to “protect democracy.” An image shared on social media falsely attributes these quotes to Hobbs and some are pointing to them as signs of election fraud in the state. An image purporting to show that Katie Hobbs allegedly said: “Turning Off Voting Machines Was Necessary to Protect Democracy” can be seen (here). The source cited for the quote, “Manta Tribune,” is presented with calligraphy-style typography that can be mistaken as a news agency. Reuters has searched for the quote online using the keywords (www.bit.ly/3AA0Rja) and found two results from humor-based websites (here) and (here). There is no evidence of Katie Hobbs saying that voting machines were turned off to protect democracy, and a spokesperson for Hobbs confirmed to Reuters that the quote has been misattributed.

☆ Fact Check-Maricopa County says bipartisan staff transport mail-in ballots for preparation of signature verification
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A video showing a truck departing from the Maricopa County Elections Department in Arizona to a third-party facility triggered social media claims of fraud, citing an allegedly inadequate chain-of-custody process. Both the Maricopa County Elections Department and Runbeck Election Services told Reuters that bipartisan staff are present during the transport of the sealed envelopes to and from their offices. News reports covering Runbeck’s Elections Services role in Maricopa County 2022 midterm elections and in the past are viewable (here) (here )( here )VERDICTMisleading. Maricopa County Elections Department and Runbeck Election Services told Reuters that bipartisan staff are present during the transport of the sealed envelopes to and from their offices. Runbeck Election Services assists with the scanning of sealed envelopes of returned early ballots, which helps with signature verification that later takes place at Maricopa County Elections Department.

☆ GOP election officials in two Arizona counties are delaying certifying their votes on the basis of unproven voting machine claims
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Election officials in two Arizona counties are delaying certifying the midterm election results. The officials are citing unproven claims about voting machines in Maricopa County. The decision was made in protest against what some Republicans claim are irregularities in the midterm vote in Maricopa County, the state's largest county. Voting machines have long been the subject of far-right conspiracy theories, especially following Donald Trump's 2020 presidential election defeat, though no claims have been proven. On November 2o it was reported that Arizona Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich had demanded that county officials provide a report on voting machine issues during the midterms.

☆ Fewer states than ever could pick the next president
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

Five states decided the last presidential race by flipping from Trump in 2016 to Joe Biden in 2020 – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Democratic and Republican presidential nominees have each carried 20 states in every election since at least 2008. Democrats did not demonstrate the capacity to threaten any of the GOP’s core 20 states, as Republicans did in Nevada. A race with just Wisconsin, Nevada, Georgia and Arizona as true battlegrounds would begin with Democrats favored in states holding 260 Electoral College votes (including Washington, DC) and Republicans in states with 235. After 2022, the list of genuinely competitive presidential states may be shrinking, but, if anything, that could increase the tension as the nation remains poised on the knife’s edge between two deeply entrenched, but increasingly antithetical, political coalitions.

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