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Arizona Republican Kari Lake is not giving up the election fight just yet after the contest was called in favor of Democrat candidate Katie Hobbs. In a new video released on Monday, Lake delivered a message for the people in Arizona and said she is prepared to fight.
“Hi, this is Kari Lake, and I have a message to the people of Arizona and all Americans. 40 days ago, elections in Arizona officially started when mail-in ballots were sent out across our state. Election day was 13 days ago, and Maricopa County is still counting ballots,” Lake began.
“Would you get on an airplane if half of the engines didn’t work? Would our friends in the media be able to broadcast their nightly propaganda if only half of their studio equipment was working?” Lake asked.
Lake praised Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich for demanding answers to the various issues that arose in Maricopa County on Election Day.
WATCH:
My message to the People of Arizona & the United States: pic.twitter.com/mtNBl7728S
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) November 21, 2022
The contest was so close that, by state law, it may go to a recount, Fox News reported:
Lake is a former TV news anchor who stepped down last year after 22 years with the Fox affiliate in Phoenix to run for governor. Thanks in part to her strong support for former President Trump and his unproven claims that the 2020 election was “stolen” and rigged,” Trump endorsed and heavily backed Lake as she narrowly won the GOP nomination over a candidate backed by term-limited GOP Gov. Doug Ducey.
Lake highlighted her “common sense conservatism” as she centered her campaign on the issues of border security, homelessness, banning critical race theory in Arizona classrooms, support for school choice, and opposition to abortion. Hobbs, a former social worker who later served in the Arizona state House and state Senate, was elected secretary of state in 2018. Hobbs gained national attention for defending Arizona’s election results — it was one of a handful of states where now-President Biden narrowly edged Trump — as the then-president unsuccessfully tried to overturn the results.
“She stressed her support for protecting abortion rights during her campaign, and also emphasized her plan to work with law enforcement and border communities to beef up Arizona’s border security with Mexico. Lake heavily criticized Hobbs for refusing to take part in gubernatorial debates. Hobbs said debating Lake would result in giving a platform to conspiracy theories,” Fox News added.
Arizona Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Wright has said she will not certify the election between Republican Kari Lake and Democrat Katie Hobbs until she gets answers to the questions surrounding the voting in Maricopa County.
“These complaints go beyond pure speculation, but include first-hand witness accounts that raise concerns regarding Maricopa’s lawful compliance with Arizona election law,” the assistant attorney general said in a letter to a top elections official, the Daily Mail reported.
“Arizonans deserve a full report and accounting of the myriad problems that occurred in relation to Maricopa County’s administration of the 2022 General Election,” she said in the letter to Thomas Liddy, the civil division chief at the Maricopa County’s Attorney’s Office.
“As the canvass is looming, and these issues relate to Maricopa County’s ability to lawfully certify election results – the Unit requests a response to the aforementioned issues on or before Maricopa County submits its official canvass to the Secretary of State, which must occur on or before November 28, 2022,” she said.
Wright said that “at least 60 locations had problems because of ballot-on-demand printers that had printer configuration settings that were ‘non-uniform,’ meaning they could not be read by tabulating machines,” the Daily Mail reported.
“Based on sworn complaints submitted by election workers employed by Maricopa County, the BOD printers were tested on Monday, November 7 without any apparent problems,” the assistant attorney general said in her letter.
“In fact, Arizona law specifically prohibits provisional ballots to be counted when a voter has signed multiple poll books,” she said.
