Republican Arizona AG candidate Abe Hamadeh’s election lawsuit to move forward

PHOENIX — A hearing for an election lawsuit brought forward by Republican Arizona Attorney General candidate Abe Hamadeh was set for Friday after a judge ruled that four of the five counts must be heard.

Mohave County Judge Lee Jantzen released the ruling Tuesday in Hamadeh’s lawsuit, which was filed Dec. 9.

Democratic Attorney General candidate Kris Mayes and Katie Hobbs in her official capacity as secretary of state asked that the challenge be dismissed.

“All of these principles are the law, and the Plaintiff has a high burden to meet in order to have an election overturned,” Jantzen said in the ruling.

The suit outlines problems in Maricopa County on Election Day, notably with ballot printers that produced about 17,000 ballots that could not be tabulated on site and had to be counted at the elections department headquarters.

Lines backed up at some polling places, fueling Republican suspicions that some supporters were unable to cast a ballot, though there’s no evidence it affected the outcome.

County officials say everyone was able to vote and all legal ballots were counted.

Hamadeh lost to Mayes by 510 votes in the Nov. 8 election. An automatic hand count is ongoing due to the margin of the race.

The count that was dismissed by Jantzen dealt with allegations of illegal votes based on an early voting provision that wasn’t eligible for a post-election challenge.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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