Republican AG Candidate, RNC File Motion for New Trial to Challenge Election

Republican AG Candidate, RNC File Motion for New Trial to Challenge Election
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters addresses voters at a rally in Phoenix, Ariz., on Nov. 3. The rally included appearances with Trump-endorsed candidates: Kari Lake for Arizona governor, Mark Finchem for Secretary of State, Abe Hamadeh for attorney general, and Kelly Cooper for U.S. House of Representatives. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)
Jack Phillips
1/6/2023
Updated:
1/6/2023
0:00

Republican Arizona candidate Abe Hamadeh filed a new motion with the Republican National Committee in Mohave County to again challenge the Nov. 8 election results in the attorney general’s race and claimed there is new evidence of voter disenfranchisements after hundreds of ballots were located in Pinal County.

Hamadeh, who was backed by President Donald Trump and is an ally of GOP candidate Kari Lake, released a statement Wednesday saying they are filing the lawsuit “as a result of newly discovered evidence that voters were clearly disenfranchised.”

A recount of Hamadeh’s race against now-Attorney General Kris Mayes shows that he lost by about 280 votes. But a 600-page motion for a new trial (pdf) filed this week asks a Mohave County judge to resurrect his lawsuit challenging the results.
“We simply ask that we be given the opportunity to apply the Pinal County process across the board to conduct a physical inspection and hand count of ballots that if the Pinal County issue repeats itself anywhere else in the state could be outcome determinative in this election,” Hamadeh wrote on Twitter of the latest challenge.

The motion stated that “the vote count totals are likely inaccurate with thousands of Arizonans’ votes not counted, thus casting further doubt about the actual result.” Information that was presented in the motion was not available during the trial last month, where the judge ultimately tossed his election challenge.

Following the statewide automatic recount, Mayes’ advantage over Hamadeh shrunk by about 230 votes—from more than 500 to about 280—over Hamadeh. Earlier this week, Mayes, a Democrat, was sworn-in as attorney general, replacing former GOP Attorney General Mark Brnovich, during a ceremony in Phoenix.

“The statewide automatic recount was primarily conducted by machine. However, during the course of this recount at least one county, Pinal, was conducting a parallel audit of its own elections processes which discovered discrepancies significant in the context of this race,” Hamadeh’s motion stated. It then cited the Pinal County election director as publicly saying that one factor underlying this disparity is that the canvass was filed prior to taking an adequate opportunity to investigate any possible anomalies we could discern from polling place returns.

“In other words, given more time, new evidence, and the physical inspection of ballots—the results changed,” it argued. After a “partial” investigation into the matter, Hamadeh gained 277 votes, his lawyers further contended.

A judge had tossed Hamadeh’s previous lawsuit about two weeks ago. The suit had alleged errors in Maricopa County voting systems, which were announced by top officials on Nov. 8, may have cost him the election.

In December, Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen allowed Hamadeh’s case to move to trial, allowing four out of five counts to be heard. However, during the trial, Jantzen stated that “elements of the case” weren’t proven.

“The bottom line is you just haven’t proven your case. You haven’t met the burden. The mistakes that may have been made were not enough to overcome the presumption the court has to have in election cases,” he said two days before Christmas last year. “It just doesn’t overcome the presumption that the election was done correctly,” he added.
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates speaks to reporters while departing a press conference at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix, Ariz., on Nov. 14, 2022. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates speaks to reporters while departing a press conference at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix, Ariz., on Nov. 14, 2022. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
After the ruling, Hamadeh wrote on Twitter that there were thousands of uncounted provision ballots and argued that thousands of Arizona voters were disenfranchised.

Human Error

During a public hearing on Wednesday, Pinal County attorney Kent Volkmer said that there were human errors that led to a discrepancy of about 500 votes between canvassed votes and recounted ones.
“We made mistakes. There’s no two ways about it,” Volkmer told the Pinal County board of supervisors on Wednesday, as reported by The Guardian. “Fortunately, it did not result in anybody’s election being changed.”

But Volkmer said he’s confident the recounted totals are correct.

“It took us a second try,” he said. “And a third try, quite frankly, with the day-of ballots. We have very thoroughly examined why this happened. And we’re taking every step we can to ensure that it does not happen again.”

The Epoch Times has contacted Mayes’ office for comment.

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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