The Maricopa County Superior Court is refusing to facilitate any further investigations into the 2022 election by former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.
On Thursday, Judge John Hannah ruled in Lake v. Richer against Lake’s petition to obtain all Maricopa County ballot envelopes from the 2022 election; despite their status as public record, Hannah expressed concern over the potential harm that could occur to voters, including future voter fraud, harassment of voters, and identity theft.
“The ballot affidavit envelopes from the 2022 election include the signatures of some 1.3 million Maricopa County voters, each conveniently presented with the voter’s name, address, and telephone number on the same page,” said Hannah. “Disclosure of the ballot affidavit envelopes therefore would create a risk of widespread fraud where none exists at present.”
Hannah cited testimony from two voters who had strangers appear at their homes to question the 2022 election. The judge also said that the perception of potential identity theft would dissuade voters from casting early mail-in ballots.
The judge further rejected Lake’s claim that voters lack a privacy interest concerning their ballot affidavit envelope signatures. He pointed out that Lake had failed to identify cases in which Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer had wrongly verified an individual ballot using a faulty signature match.
“An individual has a privacy interest in his or her signature precisely because the signature serves as a badge of personal identification for legal documents and in commercial transactions,” stated Hannah.
Hannah concluded with a comparison of Lake’s petition to the famed Aesop Fable about the goose who laid the golden egg. The judge said that Lake had overlooked democratic self-governance in an effort to vindicate her cause.
“Ms. Lake regards the electoral process much like the villagers in the famous fable regarded the goose that laid the golden egg, except that her goose failed to lay the egg she expected. She insists that something must have gone wrong. If only she could cut open the electoral process and examine each of its 1.3 million pieces, she says, she would be able to figure out what happened and show that the prize has been there waiting for her all along. And even if she doesn’t find what she’s looking for, she suggests, the act of disassembly will strengthen everyone’s confidence that the machinery produces reliable outcomes. We will know it lays the right eggs.”
Richer said that Thursday’s ruling was vindication for his opposition to Lake’s investigatory attempts. Richer had testified that release of the ballot envelopes would lead to reduced voter participation and even disenfranchisement.
“After six hours on the witness stand… I was right on the law. Again,” said Richer.
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer says that a number of progressive social issues aren’t major threats to America.
Richer dismissed the notion that transgender activism, woke corporations, and critical race theory were the most important challenges facing America. He also deprioritized the concerns over globalization, worker power, and financialization.
Rather, Richer declared that he believed government regulation, tax rates, free trade, and illegal immigration were the top challenges facing America.
Specifically: tax rates on corporations and job creators are too high, regulation is discouraging business growth and innovation, and tariffs on China are raising prices and interfering with free trade.
Of these 12, my top 3 of my top 4 issues are the 3 at the bottom in blue. (Immigration reform other)
This puts me firmly in what the study calls the "old right."
Very interesting report by @AmerCompass on "The New Conservative Voter."
— Stephen Richer—MaricopaCountyRecorder (prsnl acct) (@stephen_richer) October 1, 2023
The county recorder elicited his self-characterization in response to an American Compass report on a survey of Republicans describing “The New Conservative Voter.” By the report’s standards, Richer declared himself to be the “old right.”
“Naive of me to think politics was about competing ideas for a governing philosophy,” stated Richer.
A majority of survey respondents believed, in order, that transgender activism, woke corporations, illegal immigration, critical race theory, and globalization were the top five most important challenges facing America.
Those survey responders most concerned with the threat of progressive cultural issues were characterized as “cultural” Republicans. They agreed that transgender activists are trying to erase the differences between boys and girls; that “woke” corporations are forcing their values on Americans; and that schools, businesses, and even the military are telling Americans that the country is racist.
Survey responders most concerned with illegal immigration, family and fertility, and higher education were characterized as “consensus” Republicans. They agreed that illegal immigration undercuts American workers and lowers their wages; not enough people are married and having kids; and the education system only works for people who are able to succeed in college.
Those survey responders most concerned with globalization, worker power, and financialization were characterized as “new right” Republicans. They agreed that American manufacturing has been gutted by globalization and trade with China; workers have little control over their jobs and can’t do anything about it; and people make more money working Wall Street than building real businesses.
The survey respondents also overwhelmingly agreed that it’s become harder for a family to achieve middle-class security in America, that employers should offer better jobs and higher pay to bring in more workers, that colleges should have to bring down their costs and make loans themselves to students who need them, that tariffs are good and needed to boost American manufacturing, that the government should provide support to ensure that America is a leader in advanced technologies like semiconductors, that politicians should focus on cutting taxes and never consider raising them, and that the government shouldn’t implement welfare stipends under a “family benefit” policy.
However, survey respondents were more evenly divided on two issues. A lesser majority agreed that Wall Street investors are getting rich doing things that weaken our economy, and that unions are a negative force that harm workers, employers, and consumers.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Have you ever shown up to vote and were told at the voting location that your voting information does not match the information on your driver’s license? If this has happened to you, have you wondered if your vote was counted?
We finally know why this happens! And there’s someone fighting for you!
EZAZ.org put out a Call to Action for its Grassroots to speak at the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Meeting on September 27. One of the talking points included that voters are unknowingly being re-registered as a different political party or even in a different county than the county they live in. One of the commenters utilized this talking point.
Maricopa County’s legal team followed up by stating that during the MVD and Service Arizona process, when someone re-registers their vehicle in another county, sometimes the opt-out box is mischecked and changes voter registration without the voter knowing. Maricopa County Elections Director, Scott Jarrett, agreed.
👁🎥Maricopa Caught on VIDEO🎥👁@maricopacounty Board of Supervisors County lawyer & @RecordersOffice's Election Director admitted voters' registrations are being changed without the voter's knowledge‼️‼️‼️
Yes, this is the same elections department run by Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer. Both offices stated that the MVD and Service Arizona process is allowed under state statute. They are saying their hands are tied, and they can’t do anything about it.
This means that a voter could get mismatched information or be registered under the wrong party affiliation for something like re-registering a vehicle, registering a new vehicle, or getting a new license… And the voter wouldn’t even know until it’s too late!
So, then what would happen? If someone shows up to vote and their voting registration information is different from the information on their driver’s license, the voting location provides what is called a provisional ballot.
The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office says, “Provisional ballots are a fail-safe measure designed to ensure that all eligible voters have their ballots counted.” The county is supposed to go back and determine if voters who cast provisional ballots were legal and then count the ballots of those who are legal. But if provisional ballots are such a fail-safe measure, then consider this.
There are currently over 9,000 provisional ballots not counted in the Arizona Attorney General race. Abe Hamadeh is still fighting in the courts because his team has discovered many of these voters tend to vote in every election and some were mysteriously re-registered in another county. There are only 280 votes separating Mayes from Hamadeh.
Abe’s team has been trying for months to get access to the envelopes of provisional ballots to verify information of those who did cast a vote in such a way, but the counties have not allowed this to happen. This is ridiculous!
It’s time for the MVD and Service Arizona to change its misguided process. And it’s time for the courts to force the counties to allow Abe’s team to inspect the provisional ballot envelopes. After all, real election integrity ensures that every legal vote is counted.
Jeff Caldwell currently helps with operations at EZAZ.org. He is also a Precinct Captain, State Committeeman, and Precinct Committeeman in Legislative District 2. Jeff is a huge baseball fan who enjoys camping and exploring new, tasty restaurants! You can follow him on X here.
Community activists attended the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting on Wednesday in droves to oppose a “deep state”-filled agenda.
The activists voiced their opposition in public comment against agenda items with alleged “deep state” ties: the newest Planning and Zoning Commission appointee, expanded Travel Reduction Program Services, the new precinct committeemen appointment policy, the Carefree emergency operations policy, additional funding for Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer’s office, Scottsdale’s ownership of housing as an investment opportunity and the purchase of more houses, Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) Superintendent Scott Menzel becoming the SUSD representative, continuation of a homeless treatment COVID-19 policy, and CDC funding for overdoses.
The BOS approved all of the opposed items. The audience was generally rowdy throughout consideration of the contested agenda items, especially concerning the proposed precinct committeemen policy.
Much of the coordinated opposition effort was arranged by EZAZ, a project to boost citizen engagement in local government by the nonprofit Strong Communities Action. The project was created by former Phoenix Republican mayoral candidate Merissa Hamilton and two of her campaign workers, Lisa Blankenship and Carisa Feierabend.
EZAZ issued a lengthy explainer of their opposition to Wednesday’s agenda items.
The item that received the most vocal opposition concerned changes to the BOS oversight of precinct committeemen. The BOS directed Maricopa County Elections to establish formal processes for precinct committeemen vacancies and appointments. Legislative district leaders argued during public comment that the vacancy and appointment processes ought to be left up to the parties.
Hamilton said that the policy should’ve been developed through a stakeholder meeting with the political parties, not internally by the board’s staff. She claimed that the BOS has taken an interest in greater oversight of a process that parties have opposed bureaucratic “meddling” in, but that it has no problem “rubber stamping” other policies where the community has asked for more scrutiny.
“The parties should have given you what the processes should be, not the other way around,” said Hamilton. “It’s concerning that you’ve taken this approach because as I have audited your official ballot precinct reports, they have not been completed, so I would prefer that you would spend the time in this department working on getting those forms completed so that we can have our proper chain of custody rather than trying to change or influence a process that really you don’t have business participating in except to be a rubber stamp.”
BOS Chairman Clint Hickman countered that the intent of the policy wasn’t to create a “logjam” ahead of the 2024 election cycle. Hickman encouraged the activists to petition their legislators for changes to the law, which grants the BOS ministerial oversight of precinct committeemen appointments.
“This, again, could’ve been something that the BOS could do ministerially, because we just want to make sure that the names that come to this board to be appointed go through a procedure that matches up to both state law and your individual clubs’ bylaws,” said Hickman. “We’re not doing anything counter to bylaws or statute.”
Opponents of the policy also took issue with Maricopa County Elections neglecting to publicize the new form. The BOS repeatedly assured the public that the proposed policy was designed to create more transparency.
After hearing dozens of comments opposing the new PC policy, Chair Hickman states @MARICOPAVOTE hasn't published the new form for the public to see
This violates the Ombudsman guidance on Open Meeting Law
BOS Vice Chairman Jack Sellers said that they had received complaints that precinct committeemen vacancies weren’t properly created, hence the need for this policy update.
Concerning the newest Planning and Zoning Commission appointee, Lily Landholt, EZAZ expressed disapproval over her being a lawyer with a multinational law firm supportive of progressive transportation sustainability efforts, Squire Patton Boggs.
Supervisor Bill Gates, who moved for approval of Landholt’s appointment, said that the county should be thanking Landholt for serving on the commission. He also stated that Landholt wasn’t behind her firm’s policy stances, and that she was just one lawyer in a giant firm. Gates also said that Landholt’s role would be advisory only in policymaking, and assured the public that the BOS would have the final say.
“The fact that a lawyer in this firm — literally, one of the finest firms in the world — would want to serve on our PNZ, we should be thanking her, and that’s what I am doing,” said Gates.
The Travel Reduction Program agenda item reflected a $346,000 agreement between the Regional Public Transportation Authority and Maricopa County through the Air Quality Department to implement an employer urban travel reduction. EZAZ urged the county to use its lobbyist to get rid of the state law making the Travel Reduction Program possible; they also called for the abolition of the Maricopa Association of Governments.
EZAZ took issue with the proposed emergency operations plan for the town of Carefree because it wasn’t publicized. One public commenter cited the bureaucratic hurdles that delayed emergency response to the recent Maui wildfire.
Similarly, the activists took issue with the approval of $1.37 million to the recorder’s office without offering specifics as to what the funding would cover.
The activists also opposed the city of Scottsdale’s continued practice of owning and purchasing housing for rehabilitation and rentals. They claimed that government ownership of housing was a strain on the state’s housing supply, as well as a big risk for the city due to home prices and contract rates mirroring the 1970 and 2008 housing crises.
Also concerning housing support services, the public requested that the BOS ensure that the proposed intergovernmental agreement with the Arizona Department of Economic Security wouldn’t allow for the housing of illegal aliens or Title 42 recipients.
EZAZ opposed the appointment of SUSD Superintendent Menzel as a district representative for the Maricopa County Head Start Program meal service delivery program, citing his past remarks promoting equity and disparaging the white race.
The activists further opposed the operation of temporary emergency shelter services to mitigate COVID-19 exposure among the homeless, noting that both domestic and foreign government agencies have declared the pandemic to be over.
Also related to public health, the activists opposed the acceptance of $2.9 million in CDC grant funds for drug overdoses because of the requirement that the county abide by “health equity” practices, meaning disparate treatment based on “social determinants of health” and “health disparities” such as race, gender, sexuality, gender identity, and sexually transmitted diseases.
Watch the full meeting here:
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Attorney General Kris Mayes is fighting to continue government’s collusion with social media to control online speech.
Mayes joined a 21-state coalition of Democratic attorneys general to oppose a federal decision prohibiting federal officials from coordinating with social media companies to control speech. In a press release, the attorney general stated that control over free speech is paramount to public safety, implying that the government’s interest in maintaining this safety outweighed the constitutional right of speech.
“Social media companies and government officials must have open communication in order to ensure the safety of Americans online,” said Mayes. “A pillar of the U.S. government is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of its citizens. The lower court’s decision impedes on this protection and means federal, state and local officials cannot contact social media companies about dangerous online content.”
In an appeal led by New York, the 19 other attorneys general hail from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
The coalition’s brief characterized speech control as “content moderation,” and argued that the federal government should maintain the ability to do so since it’s been doing it “[s]ince the advent of social media.”
“[I]n the experience of amici States, information-sharing and dialogue have not been coercive, but rather, helpful in ensuring that social media companies make fully informed decision about their own content moderation policies,” stated the brief.
The Louisiana Western District Court issued a preliminary injunction last month that barred the federal government from colluding with social media companies to regulate speech on their platforms.
Arizona leadership from both parties have either called for or participated in censorship.
Last March, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer worked with the federal government on tactics to control online speech. Richer met with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Cybersecurity Advisory Committee (CSAC) Misinformation & Disinformation (MDM) Subcommittee, all under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Last September, Maricopa County rolled out a press pass program to control which outlets and reporters could gain access to government proceedings and property. Last November, the county launched a disinformation center and further limited press access. In April, Maricopa County paid a $175,000 settlement for denying press credentials to a reporter under their press pass program because his work didn’t constitute truth in their eyes.
This past March, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) asked the Federal Reserve, Treasury Department, and the Federal Deposit and Information Corporation (FDIC) whether they could work with social media companies to censor information in order to prevent a run on the banks.
Gov. Katie Hobbs, while in her former capacity as secretary of state, used the Center for Internet Security (CIS) as a middle man of sorts to censor online speech. Although requests were made for an investigation into the relationship, the transition of power in the attorney general’s office effectively made those requests dead on arrival.
Arizona government workers have also been trained by the Aspen Institute: the liberal think tank behind the coordinated cover-up of the Hunter Biden laptop story. The institute launched its first Arizona-based leadership program last year with startup funding from Walmart.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
