Cochise County Supervisor Tom Crosby, who attempted to conduct a hand count of ballots during the 2022 election and delayed the certification of election results, filed a response to Maricopa County and other defendants’ Motion to Dismiss his lawsuit over the election on Sunday. Crosby’s complaint, which asks the court to decertify the election, accused the county of not using voters’ original signatures as required by statute on their voter registrations to compare their ballot affidavit signatures to, something Yavapai Superior Court Judge John Napper ruled in September was illegal.
Napper stated in his decision, denying a motion to dismiss by defendants in Arizona Free Enterprise Club v. Fontes, “Here, the langu[ag]e of the statute is clear and unambiguous. The statute requires the recorder to review the voter’s registration record.” The county used other signatures from voters instead, signatures which didn’t require accompanying photo identification.
The case is assigned to Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Susan Pineda, who was appointed to the bench by Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano.
Crosby’s response, which was drafted by attorney Ryan Heath and made on behalf of a second plaintiff as well, David Mast, said, “This case squarely presents the question of whether State laws that govern consistency in our elections mean what they say — or whether they are meaningless guidelines to be tossed aside based on the whims of those in power.”
Read the rest of the article at The Arizona Sun Times