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Kari Lake Election Challenge Trial Reveals Major Confession - Is This a Game-Changer?

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Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer testified Wednesday during GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s election challenge trial that the individual polling locations did not tally the total number of votes cast in the midterm elections, a seeming violation of state law.

Lake attorney Bryan Blehm asked Richer whether the county knew on Election Day the total number of ballots submitted by voters.

One of the allegations in Lake’s lawsuit is that the total number of ballots the county reported in the election increased by nearly 25,000 from Nov. 9, the day after the contest, to Nov. 11.

That number is significant because it exceeds Katie Hobbs’ approximately 17,000-vote margin of victory over Lake.

“On Election Day it would’ve been easy for you to figure out how many ballots you received,” Blehm said to Richer.

He responded, “Well, we had to get them all in and it was quite a process throughout the night.”

Blehm interjected, “You can look at the forms and add the numbers. Correct?”

“They’re not counted at the individual loading locations,” Richer said. “They are counted when they get back to MCTEC and then they are recounted at Runbeck.”

MCTEC is the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in downtown Phoenix and Runbeck is the company the county uses to process and scan ballots.

Will Lake win her election lawsuit?

“Does anybody know when those ballots leave the voting centers how many are in the bins?” Blehm asked.

“When the early ballots leave the voting centers, no, they are not counted at the voting centers,” Richer answered.


Blehm followed up, “Nobody knows how many [ballots] are in the bins when they arrive at MCTEC. Correct?”

“Correct,” Richer said.

Related:
Kari Lake Takes Ballot Counting Machines Case to U.S. Supreme Court

The Arizona Republican Party tweeted in response, “Maricopa County admits they do NOT count ballots at vote centers (which is required by State Law).”

The 2019 Arizona elections procedures manual, which cites state law, requires an audit at each voting location of the total number of ballots cast. The results must be recorded in an official ballot report.

The audit even requires accounting for the total amount of ballot stock paper on-site. The ballots cast must then be placed in sealed boxes.

The Western Journal spoke with former Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett, who said Maricopa County should have known the total number of ballots on Election Day or certainly by the day after.

Each voting center, he explained, should have reported the exact number of voters and the number of early ballots that were dropped off.

The county must be able to answer the question, “How many ballots are we responsible for?” Bennett said.

“And it should match up with the number of people who signed in on the voting list or envelopes of the people that mailed theirs in or … dropped them off at voting centers on Election Day.”

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Randy DeSoto has written more than 3,000 articles for The Western Journal since he began with the company in 2015. He is a graduate of West Point and Regent University School of Law. He is the author of the book "We Hold These Truths" and screenwriter of the political documentary "I Want Your Money."
Randy DeSoto wrote and was the assistant producer of the documentary film "I Want Your Money" about the perils of Big Government, comparing the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. Randy is the author of the book "We Hold These Truths," which addresses how leaders have appealed to beliefs found in the Declaration of Independence at defining moments in our nation's history. He has been published in several political sites and newspapers.

Randy graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a BS in political science and Regent University School of Law with a juris doctorate.
Birthplace
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Nationality
American
Honors/Awards
Graduated dean's list from West Point
Education
United States Military Academy at West Point, Regent University School of Law
Books Written
We Hold These Truths
Professional Memberships
Virginia and Pennsylvania state bars
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Entertainment, Faith




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