Thursday, April 30, 2020

UPDATE: Not Done Yet - Corporation Commissioner Boyd Dunn Will Appeal Removal To Supreme Court

UPDATE, 8:30pm: Boyd Dunn *will* appeal Judge Brodman's decision to remove him from the ballot. Dunn's attorney, Jack Wilenchik, tells AZ Law that the judge erred by combining the challenged signatures from each of the two separate lawsuits.

"It’s an issue of first impression, and I know the AZSOS and counties are very opposed to what the judge just did." Wilenchik says he agrees with the State's position that "allowing these challenges to assert each other’s signatures opens the window to even more litigation and prevents it from getting ballots printed on time."

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Original article: Done? Corporation Commissioner Boyd Dunn OFF Of the Ballot, Judge Rules

Arizona Corporation Commissioner Boyd Dunn was removed from the August and November ballots this afternoon, after Superior Court Judge Roger Brodman ruled that he did not submit enough valid petition signatures.

Two different challenges were brought against Dunn, each challenging a different set of his signatures. Over Dunn's attorney's objections, Judge Brodman decided that the invalidated signatures from each of the challenges would be added together. That doomed Dunn's efforts, as 790 signatures were invalidated. That was well above the 699 that either challenger needed to strike.

Another major contributing factor was that Judge Brodman struck all 166 signatures collected by a circulator who confessed to having forged about half of those signatures. At least 100 were signed by the young woman herself or otherwise invalidated, but the judge followed a Supreme Court ruling that found that her certifications were false and that all of the signatures on those sheets must be struck.

The Minute Entry explaining the ruling is below. No word yet on whether Dunn will appeal the decision to the Arizona Supreme Court.  [Dunn's counsel *will* appeal Judge Brodman's decision to remove him from the ballot. Dunn's attorney, Jack Wilenchik, tells AZ Law that the judge erred by combining the challenged signatures from each of the two separate lawsuits.

"It’s an issue of first impression, and I know the AZSOS and counties are very opposed to what the judge just did." Wilenchik says he agrees with the State's position that "allowing these challenges to assert each other’s signatures opens the window to even more litigation and prevents it from getting ballots printed on time."]

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And, here is the complete, updated spreadsheet of election challenges from around the state. (It includes all of the cases from Maricopa County Superior Court - which handles statewide, multi-county, and county wide cases. It also includes cases from other counties that were provided to Arizona's Politics/AZ Law by readers or officials.



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