The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in Arizona, upholding a lower court’s finding that there was no misconduct, fraud or illegal voting in the general election.
The ruling came hours before the so-called “safe harbor” cutoff, a federal deadline by which states must resolve election-related disputes in state courts to guarantee Congress will count their electors’ votes.
Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward had initially filed the challenge in Maricopa County Superior Court, seeking to have a judge void Biden’s 10,457-vote win in Arizona. In her claim, she questioned the signature verification process used by Maricopa Countyto authenticate mail-in ballots, as well as the duplication process election officials used to count ballots that tabulation machines couldn’t read.
Ward brought the election contest under a state law that allows voters to dispute certified results if they suspect misconduct, illegal votes or an inaccurate count. But, over a day and a half of testimony and oral arguments, her team failed to prove anything beyond a handful of garden variety mistakes, Superior Court Judge Randall Warner said.
In an order issued Tuesday after Ward appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court, Chief Justice Robert Brutinel agreed.
The court agreed Ward’s challenge had failed to “present any evidence of ‘misconduct,’ ‘illegal votes’ or that the Biden Electors ‘did not in fact receive the highest number of votes for office,'” he wrote — “let alone establish any degree of fraud or a sufficient error rate that would undermine the certainty of the election results.”
“Elections will not be held invalid for mere irregularities unless it can be shown that the result has been affected by such irregularity,” he wrote. “The validity of an election is not voided by honest mistakes or omissions unless they affect the result, or at least render it uncertain.
Noting the decision was unanimous, he concluded: “It is ordered affirming the trial court decision and confirming the election of the Biden Electors.” Those 11 electors are scheduled to cast their presidential votes Monday.
Ward did not immediately comment on the ruling. In a video posted to her Twitter page Tuesday morning, she claimed the expedited nature of the case had jeopardized her right to due process.
“Whenever you have 3.3 million ballots-plus to look at, it certainly is a problem … if you are only given two days to present your case,” she said, referring to the Superior Court proceedings.
The high court dismissed that idea, with Brutinel writing that the trial judge’s timeline was appropriate given the circumstances.
It also rejected the Secretary of State’s Office request to have the Arizona GOP cover its legal fees without elaborating.
Attorneys for state call federal suit ‘dystopian fiction’
While state courts resolved election contests by Tuesday evening, another challenge is pending in federal court.
That lawsuit, filed with the assistance of attorney and Trump advocate Sidney Powell, names Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and Gov. Doug Ducey as defendants.
Alleging “massive election fraud” involving Dominion voting machines,the plaintiffs — mostly would-be Trump electors — seek to have the state’s election results “decertified” and election equipment seized.
U.S. District Court Judge Diane Humetewa heard preliminary arguments in the case Tuesday morning, after attorneys for state and county officials filed motions asking her to toss out the lawsuit.
Hobbs lawyer Justin Nelson called the suit “dystopian fiction” in his filing, saying it was the “latest in a series of baseless attacks on the results of the 2020 election” and attacking the credibility of the plaintiffs’ proposed witnesses.
“Plaintiffs seek unprecedented relief: overturning a presidential election and disenfranchising nearly 3.4 million Arizona voters,” he wrote. “They do so based on anonymous (affidavits), facially unqualified so-called experts, and an implausible claimed conspiracy.”
He also argued they lacked standing to file the claim in the first place, as state courts are the forum for election contests and they offered only “generalized” grievances.
Maricopa County lawyer Thomas Liddy similarly deemed the suit “woefully deficient” in his motion and noted Ward already had an election contest pending on appeal. And Brett Johnson, a private attorney hired by Ducey, said the governor had completed his duties when he certified the election and the lawsuit was moot.
Humetewa asked Julia Haller, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, to addressthose and other arguments during Tuesday’s hearing. She noted that courts in other states had recently rejected almost identical attempts decertify results after concluding no federal law had been violated.
“The election results were already certified. The governor has already transmitted the same to the United States archivist,” Humetewa said. What makes this (case) different?”
Haller acknowledged that there was “some overlap” with other election cases but said this lawsuit focused on Ducey and Hobbs, rather than Biden electors or county officials.
“We are seeking … to invalidate the election based on the governor’s certification, and the secretary of state’s role in that process,” she said. “That is very different from the contest statute.”
Nelson pushed back, arguing on behalf of defendants that Arizona has “a detailed and strict procedure for challenging election results” in state court, and “plaintiffs are trying to use this court as an end run around the system.”
He noted that Ducey and Hobbs belong to different political parties, yet “they stand united in defending a free and fair election, and they would be here defending the outcome of this election, regardless of who had prevailed.”
“This court should grant the motion (to dismiss) and not allow such a frivolous lawsuit to continue in plaintiffs’ attempt to undermine the will of the Arizona people,” Nelson said.
Humetewa said she would issue a ruling by Wednesday afternoon.
Reach the reporter at maria.polletta@arizonarepublic.com or 602-653-6807. Follow her on Twitter @mpolletta.
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