Many Americans suspect the Left of fudging elections to turn out improbably high numbers of Democrat votes, but nothing ever happens to fix it. The brave souls who actually try to do something about it get stomped: President Trump and his followers were derided and persecuted as “election deniers;” Sidney Powell was written off as a kook; True the Vote leaders were imprisoned; Rudy Giuliani was subjected to the politicized DOJ’s trademark raid-‘n-investigate harassment special; and let’s not even talk about what happened to frustrated Americans who exercised their Constitutional right to protest at the Capitol. (No, I’m not defending the handful of violent and destructive idiots, just the regular folk on whom the full force of the federal government came down like a ton of bricks.)
Understand: the Left hates Election Day. The idea of engaged citizens who care enough to get themselves to a designated polling place, where voting is limited to eligible citizens who show ID and the chain of custody is short and tight, is anathema to their schemes of ballot box supremacy. They’ve normalized stretching the day into weeks of early voting, mailing out ballots indiscriminately, demonizing integrity measures, and making a sh*tshow (pardon my French) of the counting process. So we shouldn’t be surprised that they’ve now moved on to torpedoing Election Day itself. After all, the Democrat harvest of dubious votes is already safely in the bank by then. They have zero interest in facilitating a Republican turnout on counting day, so of course they flub it when they’re in charge of it.
But sometimes the chicanery is so egregious and blatant that the demand to “do something” becomes attainable. Such was the case in Florida in 2000, after the Bush v. Gore debacle, and the positive results following that effort are evident today. And such may now be the case in Arizona, which failed to fix its balloting process after it produced tens of thousands of irregular votes in the 2020 election.
On Nov. 8, Republicans flocked to Arizona voting centers in what should have been a triumphant red wave, sweeping in an exciting new governor, Kari Lake. But the in-person voters were stymied by equipment malfunctions in the districts where they were supposed to have overwhelmed the contest. And although Lake had gone into Election Day polling ahead of Democrat Katie Hobbs for over a month, the win was handed to Hobbs.
To her credit, Lake refused to concede. Instead, she announced she was assembling a legal team to contest the dysfunctional election. “I’m busy here collecting evidence and data. Rest assured, I have assembled the best and brightest legal team and we are exploring every avenue to correct the many wrongs that have been done this past week,” Lake said. “I’m doing everything in my power to right these wrongs. My resolve to fight for you is higher than ever.” She’s been gathering evidence, crunching data, and rounding up witnesses ever since.
Once Lake took a stand, a funny thing happened: the fight grew.
On Saturday, Arizona Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Wright opened an inquiry into the Election Day disaster in Maricopa County. Wright emailed the Civil Division Chief at the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office to demand answers on ballot printers and tabulators failing in a third of polling places on Election Day, poll workers given instructions they were untrained to handle, and improper handling of uncounted ballots. And she pointed out that the county’s clearance to certify its results was in jeopardy. “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” (emphasis in the original).
Related: Finally! Arizona Attorney General Launches Inquiry Into Maricopa County Election Day Fiasco
Then on Monday, Mohave County became the second county to vote to delay certification of its election results until the Nov. 28 deadline. County Board of Supervisors member Hildy Angius is quoted as saying, “It’s a political statement, I’m not going to lie. We did it in 2020, it doesn’t hinder us. … It’s, again, a statement of solidarity with other counties who are doing this.” Cochise County had already voted to delay its certification on Friday, seeking to confirm its tabulating machines had been legally certified.
The latest strike in the battle came two days before Thanksgiving as Republican Attorney General nominee Abe Hamadeh sued election officials. Just the News reports:
Arizona’s Republican Attorney General nominee Abe Hamadeh on Tuesday evening sued election officials across the state, alleging that “incompetence and mismanagement” had caused “pervasive errors” in the midterm elections.
In a statement, Hamadeh said the Republican National Committee had joined him in filing the 25-page complaint in Maricopa County Superior Court. …
Hamadeh’s suit alleges the final count was impacted by “election board misconduct, the tallying of unlawful ballots, and the erroneous counting of votes.”
The uncertified final count puts Hamadeh just 500 votes behind Democrat Kris Mayes.
Arizonans demand answers and deserve transparency about the gross incompetence and mismanagement of the General Election by certain election officials. I will not stop fighting until ALL voters receive justice.
See you in court. pic.twitter.com/5jJ6WWt8IK
— Abe Hamadeh (@AbrahamHamadeh) November 23, 2022
The Arizona races for Secretary of State and Governor are extremely important; if the Republicans ultimately prevail, they will be in a position to correct Arizona’s persistent and appalling mishandling of elections. If the Democrats win, nothing will be done to fix anything, and Arizona will go from a swing state to a hopelessly blue state.
But because of the determination of these Republicans who actually have spines, it’s possible that the sloppy-at-best election will not be certified. Perhaps it will have to be redone. Lake and Hamadeh may yet prevail, and who knows? Maybe there will even be another Republican U.S. Senator after all.
For our VIPs: Can Arizona Get a Do-Over Election? Yes, Here’s How.
It’s a battle worth fighting. One could argue it’s even existential, but at the very least, the prizes at stake are eminently worth fighting for.
I don’t want to hear another word about how MAGA Republicans are “too extreme” or that “election deniers” are bad for the party. Right now, they’re the only ones fighting back against systemic Democrat malfeasance (as usual). And in Arizona, they may well have picked a winnable battle in the Democrat War on honest elections. Godspeed to them in their effort. They may yet save Election Day — and perhaps even the Republic in the process.