Abraham Hamadeh, who has
unsuccessfully tried to overturn his 2022 loss thrice, is
interesting his newest rejection, hoping the courts will rethink his
case after a decide dismissed it final week. 

Late Tuesday, the Republican filed a
discover of attraction asking the Arizona Court docket of Appeals to take up his
movement for a brand new trial that was rebuffed by Mohave County Superior Court docket Decide Lee Jantzen on Friday. Hamadeh, who narrowly misplaced the 2022 election for legal professional basic to Democrat Kris Mayes by simply 280 votes, pushed for a brand new trial in January, after a problem in December failed to offer convincing proof that his loss was the results of widespread election misconduct. 

However, Jantzen mentioned in a proof of his ruling launched on Monday, Hamadeh’s renewed try and nullify his loss continues to lack proof, and the time for contesting the 2022 election is over.

Hamadeh contends {that a} mixture
of inaccurate poll verification processes and erroneously rejected
ballots resulted in additional than 1,000 thwarted votes for his marketing campaign,
costing him the workplace of legal professional basic. A key a part of his bid to
rehash the 2022 election in a brand new trial is that the statewide recount,
licensed shortly after his December trial ended, revealed counting
discrepancies in Pinal County that he argues point out points might exist
elsewhere within the state. 

The identical recount that recognized 507
extra votes in Pinal County — which had been added to the ultimate tally however
had been nonetheless inadequate to web Hamadeh a win — didn’t discover equally
egregious issues in some other county. 

Republican Arizona State Rep.
Alexander Kolodin, one among eight attorneys representing Hamadeh, mentioned
that Hamadeh’s claims ought to be given their day in courtroom, regardless of
Jantzen’s skepticism. 

“(Jantzen’s) not likely conscious what
paperwork have been gathered apart from what’s been defined to him within the
briefs,” he informed the Mirror. “It’s laborious to know how saying that,
in the event you open the envelopes and rely the votes that haven’t been
counted, that it might not be enough proof. Clearly, you open the
envelopes and also you rely the votes and also you see: does it change the
introduced outcome?” 

Hamadeh’s attorneys have repeatedly
petitioned the courtroom to permit for extra ballots to be examined to bolster
their arguments, however Jantzen dismissed that request on Friday by citing
state legal guidelines round election challenges, which strictly restrict poll
inspections. That chance, Jantzen added, was already given in
Hamadeh’s December trial, when attorneys had been permitted to look by means of greater than 2,000 ballots
and in the end offered simply 14 as proof throughout the trial, solely six
of which ought to have, allegedly, counted in direction of Hamadeh. 

The discover of attraction leaves open the
risk of circumventing the state appeals courtroom to petition the
Arizona Supreme Court docket straight, through a particular motion or emergency
switch. That technique was employed twice this 12 months by failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake. The state Supreme Court docket judges punted the problem again to the decrease courtroom after her first attempt to haven’t but responded to her second. 

Earlier than both courtroom can resolve to
take up the case nevertheless, Jantzen should first rule on a sanctions request
and an argument on how a lot to compensate poll inspectors who
participated within the December trial. Lawyer Normal Kris Mayes argued
that Hamadeh, his legal professionals and the opposite plaintiffs concerned in his
problem, two Mohave county residents and the Republican Nationwide
Committee, ought to be required to pay double damages and attorneys charges. 

Beneath state legislation, instances delivered to
courtroom with no substantial justification or that unreasonably delay
proceedings, amongst different standards, are topic to a double damages positive of $5,000. 

Kolodin, nevertheless, doubts that
sanctions are in Hamadeh’s future, pointing to Jantzen’s prolonged
consideration of the movement for a brand new trial and admission that it was an
extraordinarily slender race.

“Let’s be sincere right here,” he mentioned. “The
decide’s ruling says this can be a shut query in a detailed race. That is
not a case the place sanctions are going to be on the desk.”