Abe Hamadeh filed a Petition for Special Action with the Arizona Supreme Court on Friday, asking the court to consider providing him with a new trial in his election lawsuit contesting losing the attorney general’s race. Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee F. Jantzen denied Hamadeh’s request for a new trial in July, despite the fact Hamadeh discovered that then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs withheld evidence of undervotes in Pinal County, which led to Kris Mayes’ lead shrinking to only 280 votes over Hamadeh, making it the closest statewide race in Arizona history.
Hamadeh said he believes up to 76,339 “undervotes” statewide were not counted in the election.
Hamadeh said in a statement provided to The Arizona Sun Times, “I stand by my commitment to keep fighting for the people of Arizona and protect their sacred right to vote. As a veteran, I took an oath to serve our country overseas, and I will continue to serve Arizona and our country. The evidence cannot be ignored — there are thousands of uncounted ballots. Although we have faced unusual roadblocks at the trial court, we are confident we will have our day in court to present the evidence and ensure that the will of the people is honored.”
Authored by Jennifer Wright, the former Election Integrity Unit civil attorney for the attorney general’s office, the 48-page petition seeks to bypass the regular appeals process through the Arizona Court of Appeals. Wright argued that the trial court judge moved so slowly that “unexplainable and unnecessary delays on an issue of extreme statewide importance justify Petitioners’ request to seek extraordinary relief from this Court directly via special action.” She said Jantzen never even issued a final ruling denying a new trial, so Hamadeh cannot file an appeal yet.
The petition criticized Jantzen’s ruling denying Hamadeh a new trial.
“Despite its laborious process, nearly every paragraph of the trial court’s order contains legal errors and makes factual findings not supported by the record,” the petition said.
Read the rest of the article at The Arizona Sun Times