GOP lawyers appeal ruling on case seeking to discredit Arizona election
Dec 10, 2020, 12:33 PM | Updated: 6:41 pm
PHOENIX – Attorneys in a federal lawsuit seeking to decertify the results of the presidential election in Arizona filed a notice of appeal on Thursday.
President Donald Trump’s former campaign lawyer Sidney Powell and other attorneys are attempting to have the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturn U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa’s ruling.
Humetewa dismissed the lawsuit Wednesday saying it failed “to provide the court with factual support for their extraordinary claims.”
The case claimed Arizona’s election systems could have security flaws that let election workers and foreign countries manipulate results, allowing the systems to switch votes from Trump to President-elect Joe Biden.
Dominion Voting Systems was one of Maricopa County’s vendors for voting equipment.
Dominion’s equipment was used for voting and vote tabulation in more than 30 states.
The company has been the target of a number of false claims and about the election pushed by supporters of Trump, among them that the company switched or deleted votes cast for Trump and that it has ties to prominent Democrats.
Maricopa County Communications Director Fields Moseley said Thursday that the county’s Board of Supervisors chairman is prepared for a forensic audit of the election if required.
“Understanding the judge in the federal case dismissed Wednesday afternoon could have required further discovery under short deadlines, the Board of Supervisors chairman directed staff to research and prepare for a forensic audit,” Moseley said.
“Maricopa County invited a federally certified, independent auditing team to Arizona in preparation for a forensic audit if all court cases were not dismissed.”
In Arizona, seven lawsuits attempting to challenge the results of the presidential election results in Arizona have been dismissed.
Despite repeated claims, there has been no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the election.
On Nov. 30, Arizona’s two top-ranking Republican elected officials, Gov. Doug Ducey and Attorney General Mark Brnovich, signed off on Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ election certification.
The certified results showed Biden winning Arizona by more than 10,000 votes to claim the state’s 11 electoral votes. As it stands, Biden will win the presidency by a 306-232 margin when the Electoral College meets on Dec. 14. Biden’s inauguration is set for Jan. 20.
Biden won in Maricopa County, the state’s most-populous region, by more than 45,000 votes in becoming the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Arizona since 1996.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.