Election integrity efforts suffered several setbacks over the past month in Arizona. The Arizona Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit brought challenging election practices that could allow fraud, and the Arizona Supreme Court refused to accept three similar cases.
Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona Inc., an organization working in the election integrity field represented by America First Legal, had filed the lawsuit along with several plaintiffs in Yavapai County, alleging improprieties in elections. They cited malfunctioning voting printers causing long lines, unlawful signature verification procedures, unlawful cancellation of registered voters, unlawful signature curing procedures and unstaffed drop boxes.
The lower court dismissed the case, stating the plaintiffs failed to allege an injury. The appeals court declared, “Misconduct in election administration is sufficient to state a claim by a voter if it affected the result of the election.” The judges said, “They do not allege that they were or will be denied the right to vote.” However, other courts have ruled that this is not the standard.
Two cases challenging the 2020 election in Iowa found that the standard was merely the risk of fraud. The Republican National Committee (RNC) brought the lawsuits, which were over pre-populated absentee ballot request forms (ABRs). Judge Ian Thornhill found the RNC had standing. “The Court concludes that, as entities with involvement and interests in the outcome of the November, 2020 general election, including with respect to voter registration and mobilization and having representatives of their political party on the ballot, Plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of being found to have a specific personal or legal interest in this litigation, and shown a likelihood of being injuriously affected, due at least in part to the fact that not all counties in Iowa have the finances to create prepopulated ABRs,” he ruled.
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