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Leading attorney for Kari Lake, Kurt Olsen, accused Maricopa County of “misleading the public” after evidence reportedly showed that county tabulators rejected thousands of ballots “every thirty minutes” throughout Election Day. The presented evidence contradicts Maricopa County’s original claims downplaying the mayhem.
According to Olsen, Maricopa’s tabulator system log files revealed that “as soon as the polls open, BOOM, chaos ensued” with over 7,000 ballots immediately rejected.
“It doesn’t even drop below 7,000 until 8:00 p.m.,” Olsen said, contradicting Maricopa County’s claims that these issues were resolved earlier that day. “This once again shows everybody, the court, everybody, that Maricopa has been misleading the public.”
As reported by The Arizona Sun Times, Lake presented this evidence in her appeal reply brief, stating that Maricopa rejected over 217,000 ballots on the day “when approximately 248,000 votes were cast.”
The brief states:
“Indeed, just yesterday, the Arizona Senate Committee on Elections was presented evidence from Maricopa’s tabulator system log files showing that on Election Day, Maricopa’s vote center tabulators rejected over 7,000 ballots every thirty minutes beginning almost immediately after the vote centers opened at 6:00 am and continuing past 8:00 pm—totaling over 217,000 rejected ballot insertions on a day when approximately 248,000 votes were cast.”
Lake’s legal team argues that this evidence shows Maricopa problems “were massive, widespread, and lasted all day” despite the county downplaying the issues as mere “hiccups.”
The fiery legal battle between Lake, Katie Hobbs, and Maricopa County continues with the case in the process of appeal after Judge Thompson struck down Lake’s initial lawsuit in December, as reported by RSBN.