BREAKING Sanctions Scoreboard Update: AZGOP Hit With Covering State's Attorneys Fees For 2020 Election Case

The 2020 post-election lawsuits continue to drain the Arizona Republican Party's dwindling cash on hand. An appeals court today reissued its opinion affirming the AZGOP's $18,237.59 sanctions from its "futile" and "meritless" 2020 case. Separately, the judges today ordered the party to pay an additional $8,946.63 for the Secretary of State's fees and costs incurred during the (long) appeal.

The AZGOP has already posted bond on the trial court's sanctions (in order to avoid collection processes during the appeal), but the new sanctions will deplete nearly 20% of the AZGOP's most-recently-reported cash on hand.

The trial court judge found the case to be "futile", "meritless" and worthy of sanctions because the AZGOP claimed that Maricopa County had violated the law by hand counting ballots at 2% of the vote centers used on Election Day instead of 2% of precincts. (The difference in the number of ballots checked is minimal.)

The AZGOP appealed, continuing its argument that the sanctions were dangerous for free speech. On April 20 of this year, the Court of Appeals affirmed the sanctions.

The party's attorneys filed a Motion to Reconsider the opinion, pointing out that the judges had misstated both the party's position and the law about the established hand count audit. Today, the court denied the Motion but changed its previous opinion in order to correct the mistake. (They removed  ¶40 and replaced it with new  ¶ ¶39-40, below.)

Separately, they issued an Order approving the amounts requested by the Secretary of State's Office, "attorneys’ fees in the amount of $8,261.51 and costs in the amount of $685.12." (below)

The AZGOP and its attorneys - Wilenchik & Bartness - are all responsible for making sure the new award is paid. No word yet on whether they will triple down and appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court.

(This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.)

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