BREAKING: Claiming Court of Appeals Declared "Election Laws Don't Matter," Lake Files Long-Awaited AZ Supreme Court Petition For Review (READ Petition)

UPDATE, 3/2, 1:30pm: Arizona Supreme Court EXPEDITES @KariLake Election Contest Appeal, will deliberate on whether or not to accept the Petition for Review at their INTERNAL conference on March 21.

Responses from the Defendants/Appellees are due by March 13, and any amicus (aka "friend of the court") briefs are due on the 16th. The Court warns, in today's en banc Order, that the amicus briefs will be held to the long-standing rule that requires that "acceptance of the person’s brief as amicus curiae would be desirable.”

UPDATE, 3/2, 10:45am: We have now received the Motion to Expedite from the Arizona Supreme Court. It is posted below.

UPDATE, 6:30pm: It does appear that Lake's attorneys filed a separate request to expedite consideration of their request for review. We asked both Lake's attorneys and the Court for the Motion to Expedite. We will update as warranted.

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Kari Lake, who finished second in the race to succeed Doug Ducey as Arizona's Governor, has brought her Election Contest to the Arizona Supreme Court. Her attorneys lead off by saying that the previous judges to consider the matter declared that Arizona's "election laws don't matter."

Lake lost in Superior Court after a two-day trial in which she brought forth witnesses to allege that Maricopa County caused problems at Election Day polling places because of printer/tabulator problems, that there were chain of custody issues and that the problems caused her to lose the election.

The Superior Court judge evaluated the evidence and denied her claims, after previously dismissing several other of her allegations.

Lake is appealing all of it.

She continues to allege that the state's largest county added "35,563 unaccounted for ballots...at a third party processing facility." The basis for that was that the County had not yet counted how many early ballots were dropped off at Vote Centers on Election Day and released an estimate that night. When an actual number was finalized the following day, it was higher than the estimate. Judge Peter Thompson found that Lake had not met her burden of proving that that violated statutes and procedures.

Lake is not requesting that the AZ Supreme Court handle this as an expedited appeal. This despite telling her followers on Sunday that she would try to accelerate consideration. Unless the defendants/appellees or the Court asks to expedite, Hobbs'/Fontes'/Richer's Responses will not be due before April 3.

It will then be up to the 7 Supreme Court Justices to determine whether or not to accept her appeal.

"AZ Law" includes articles, commentaries and updates about opinions from the Arizona Supreme Court, U.S. Supreme Court, as well as trial and appellate courts, etc. AZ Law is founded by Phoenix attorney Paul Weich, and joins Arizona's Politics on the internet. 

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