‘Would create a risk of widespread fraud where none exists’: Judge refuses to let Kari Lake inspect 2022 election ballot affidavit envelopes

Kari Lake, Judge John Hannah

Kari Lake (inset AP Photo/Alex Brando, File), Judge John Hannah listens during Sept. 21 hearing (Arizona Republic/screengrab)

A state judge on Thursday rejected failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s (R) attempt to access 2022 election ballot affidavit envelopes, finding that to allow that inspection “would create a risk of widespread fraud where none exists at present.”

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Hannah has been a thorn in the side of Republicans’ election challenges since the 2020 cycle, whether by dismissing a case and calling an attempt to amend the filing “futile” or by ordering the Arizona Republican Party to pay $18,000 in attorneys’ fees for bringing a “groundless” lawsuit against Katie Hobbs, then the secretary of state and now the Democratic governor of the state who defeated Lake in the 2022 elections.

Hannah was no kinder to Lake in his latest ruling, writing that if he granted Lake what she asked for — ballot affidavit envelopes including “signatures of some 1.3 million Maricopa County voters, each conveniently presented with the voter’s name, address, and telephone number on the same page” — that “would create a risk of widespread fraud where none exists at present” and “also create a real possibility of voter harassment.”

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