{"id":2024730,"date":"2023-09-07T14:40:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-07T18:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kari-lake-has-utmost-confidence-in-victory-after-court-finds-maricopa-county-signature-verification-unlawful\/"},"modified":"2023-09-07T14:45:42","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T18:45:42","slug":"kari-lake-has-utmost-confidence-in-victory-after-court-finds-maricopa-county-signature-verification-unlawful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kari-lake-has-utmost-confidence-in-victory-after-court-finds-maricopa-county-signature-verification-unlawful\/","title":{"rendered":"Kari Lake remains confident in victory as court deems Maricopa County signature verification illegal."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fkari-lake-has-utmost-confidence-in-victory-after-court-finds-maricopa-county-signature-verification-unlawful%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2024730&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div data-post-content=\"true\" class=\"post_content\" id=\"post_content\">\n<p>Conservative firebrand Kari Lake\u200d is feeling highly confident in \u200cher \u200bupcoming trial\u2063 after a judge ruled that\u200d Maricopa County&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/election-expert-finds-possible-flaw-in-signature-verification-process\/\" title=\"Election expert finds possible flaw in signature verification process\">signature verification process<\/a> was unlawful.<\/p>\n<p>Yavapai County Superior Court\u200d Judge John Napper recently issued a ruling \u2064deeming some of Arizona&#8217;s signature\u2062 verification\u200b procedures \u2064in violation of \u2062state law. In response, Ms. Lake released a statement on Sept.\u2064 6, expressing her &#8220;utmost confidence&#8221; in her election-related legal\u200c dispute against Arizona \u2062state officials.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Following \u200bthis ruling, I have the utmost confidence that we will win our lawsuit to review the early \u200bballot signatures later this month,&#8221; \u200dMs. Lake \u2064said in the statement.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n<div class=\"shortcode\">\n<div class=\"border-comp-divider mb-4 mr-4 w-full max-w-[500px] border px-5 py-4 text-[16px] leading-[20px] text-[#262626] md:float-left\" id=\"in_article_related_stories\">\n<div class=\"mb-3 font-sans text-[16px] font-semibold uppercase leading-[19px] text-[#2F2F2F]\">Related Stories<\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/judge-rules-kari-lake-lawsuit-to-get-mail-in-ballot-signatures-will-go-to-trial-5481922\">Judge Rules \u200bKari Lake Lawsuit\u2063 Seeking Mail-In Ballot Signatures \u2063Will Go to\u2062 Trial<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">8\/28\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/judge-rules-kari-lake-lawsuit-to-get-mail-in-ballot-signatures-will-go-to-trial-5481922\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/i-think-arizonas-ready-for-that-kari-lake-says-she-will-decide-on-senate-run-by-end-of-year-5479894\">&#8216;I Think Arizona\u2019s Ready for\u200b That&#8217;: Kari Lake Says She Will Decide on Senate\u200c Run by End of Year<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">8\/24\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/i-think-arizonas-ready-for-that-kari-lake-says-she-will-decide-on-senate-run-by-end-of-year-5479894\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Ms. Lake&#8217;s legal dispute against Arizona \u200dstate officials stems from claims that she was robbed \u2064of victory in November 2022 due to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kari-lake-has-utmost-confidence-in-victory-after-court-finds-maricopa-county-signature-verification-unlawful\/\" title=\"Kari Lake remains confident in victory as court deems Maricopa County signature verification illegal.\">alleged improper ballot\u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/99-99-accuracy-rate-raffensperger-says-signature-match-audit-found-no-evidence-of-voter-fraud-in-cobb-county-only-2-out-of-15118-signatures-identified-as-problem\/\" title=\"\u201c99.99% Accuracy Rate\u201d Raffensperger Says Signature Match Audit Found No Evidence of Voter Fraud in Cobb County \u2013 Only 2 Out of 15,118 Signatures Identified as Problem\">signature verification procedures<\/a><\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>Several courts ruled\u200b against \u2063her, but she \u2062appealed and the\u2062 Arizona Supreme Court recently decided \u200bthat \u2062her appeal\u200c is now due \u200cfor a Sept. 21\u200b trial.\u2064 This\u2062 trial will allow her concerns about signature\u2062 verification\u200b issues to be aired and considered by the court.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>Ms. Lake&#8217;s \u200bstatement expressing confidence that she&#8217;ll\u2064 prevail at \u2063trial\u2062 comes after Judge John \u200bNapper issued a ruling last week (<a href=\"https:\/\/riteusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Superior-Court-State-of-Arizona-County-of-Yavapai-RITE-v.-Fontes.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pdf<\/a>) in \u2062a lawsuit against\u2062 Arizona \u200dSecretary of \u2064State Adrian Fontes brought by public interest group Restoring Integrity \u2062and\u200c Trust \u2062in \u2063Elections \u200d(RITE).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n<div class=\"shortcode post-related-videos\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The \u200dgroup \u2062alleged that Mr. \u2062Fontes broke the law regarding mail-in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-finds-arizonas-signature-matching-process-unlawful-in-massive-win-for-election-integrity\/\" title=\"Arizona court declares signature matching process illegal, a major victory for election integrity.\">ballot signature verification \u200bprocedures<\/a>. Specifically, the \u2062group argued that Mr. Fontes&#8217; interpretation of &#8220;registration record&#8221; in the\u2062 Secretary of State&#8217;s Elections Procedures Manual was\u2062 unreasonably\u200d broad and\u2062 improperly expanded the pool of signatures to which an early ballot\u2063 affidavit \u200bsignature could be compared, increasing the\u200d risk of false positives.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile state law \u200drequires county\u2063 recorders to match\u200b mail-ballot signatures with\u2064 signatures in the voter\u2019s \u2018registration record,\u2019 the\u200d Secretary instructed them\u200c to \u200duse a broader and less reliable universe of comparison \u200csignatures,\u201d RITE said in a Sept. \u20645 statement on the court ruling.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat means the Secretary was requiring ballots to be counted despite using a signature that\u200b did\u2063 not match\u2064 anything \u2063in\u2064 the \u200dvoter\u2019s registration record. \u2062This was a clear violation of\u200b state law,\u201d the group added.<\/p>\n<p>In her statement on the ruling, Ms. Lake expressed relief\u2062 that the \u200cjudge ruled\u200b that Arizona&#8217;s signature matching\u2063 process is unlawful.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Maricopa County&#8217;s\u200c complete abandonment of signature verification standards\u200d has allowed for the \u200cintegrity of our elections to \u200bbe washed away,&#8221; Ms. Lake\u200d said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Election laws aren&#8217;t \u200csuggestions or guidelines, they&#8217;re \u200dthe law,&#8221; she continued, adding that she&#8217;s thankful the court &#8220;reminded&#8221; Mr. Fontes about that fact.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>Mr. Fontes&#8217; office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.<\/p>\n<h2>&#8216;Registration Record&#8217; Definition in Focus<\/h2>\n<p>Court documents \u2064show \u2064that\u200b Mr. Fontes argued that the legal definition of &#8220;registration record&#8221; is \u200cambiguous\u200d and so he is entitled to provide guidance on its\u2063 interpretation.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>&#8220;Does the \u200dlegislature&#8217;s use of the expansive term registration &#8216;record&#8217; really mean the\u2062 more restrictive (but unused) term registration \u2062&#8217;form&#8217; for purposes of verifying a signature on an early voted ballot,&#8221; \u200dreads a motion \u2062to \u200cdismiss\u2062 (<a href=\"https:\/\/riteusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/02-Secretary.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pdf<\/a>) \u200dthe RITE\u200b lawsuit filed\u200c by Mr.\u2064 Fontes&#8217; attorneys.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;The answer is &#8216;no,'&#8221; the\u200d attorneys\u200c argued, listing reasons that\u200c include the secretary of state&#8217;s statutory authority to conduct elections fairly and impartially.<\/p>\n<p>The \u2062judge\u2062 disagreed with the\u200b reasoning,\u200b however,\u2064 arguing that there&#8217;s little scope for ambivalence in Arizona election\u200d law.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This argument fails because there is no ambiguity\u2064 in the\u200d statute,&#8221; Judge Napper wrote in his\u2062 opinion.<\/p>\n<p>He added that the Arizona &#8220;statute is clear and unambiguous&#8221; in that it requires\u200d the\u2063 recorder to &#8220;review the \u2063voter&#8217;s registration\u2062 card&#8221; and not other documents bearing the voter&#8217;s signature.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Napper also noted\u200d that Mr. Fontes&#8217; signature-matching process in the Election Procedures \u200cManual &#8220;contradicts the plain \u200dlanguage&#8221; of \u200cArizona elections laws by allowing signature matching with documents that have &#8220;nothing to do with the act of registering.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>After \u200cweighing arguments, \u2064the judge denied Mr. Fontes&#8217;\u200d motion to dismiss the lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>Derek\u200b Lyons, CEO \u200dof RITE, issued \u200ba \u200bstatement calling Judge Napper&#8217;s\u2064 ruling a &#8220;huge victory toward securing the elections \u2062that Arizonans deserve, \u2062which are elections they can trust.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRITE will build on this victory\u200d to continue to fight in court for elections that are administered according to\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kurt-schlichter-weak-cons-and-libs-can-clutch-their-pearls-and-seethe\/\" title=\"Kurt Schlichter: Weak Cons and Libs Can Clutch Their Pearls and Seethe\">democratically enacted laws<\/a>, not illegal partisan commands,\u201d\u2063 he\u2062 added.<\/p>\n<p>The group said in a statement that the \u2064ruling\u200c shows that Mr. Fontes\u2063 must change his signature verification procedures before the next\u2062 election \u200bto \u2062&#8221;protect the integrity of\u2062 Arizona&#8217;s mail-in\u200c balloting process&#8221; or \u200dface further\u200c legal consequences.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>While Ms. Lake has expressed confidence that the ruling \u2063will impact \u200dher \u2062chances of prevailing at trial at \u200cthe end of September, the implication<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Conservative Kari Lake is optimistic about winning her trial after a judge declared Maricopa County&#8217;s signature verification process illegal. Yavapai County Superior Court Judge John Napper&#8217;s recent ruling found that certain procedures in Arizona violated state law. Ms. Lake expressed her confidence in a statement following the decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":2024731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2024730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2024730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2024731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2024730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2024730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2024730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}