共和党人卡莉·莱克的选举诉讼亚利桑那州法官驳回了她提出的大部分(但不是全部)指控，并将于本周接受审判州长竞选中的失败民主党人凯蒂·霍布斯。
马里科帕县高等法院法官彼得·汤普森周一晚间驳回了10项指控中的8项，但允许继续进行两项指控，即涉嫌影响选举日选票打印机和选票保管链的故意不当行为。
为期两天的审判将于美国东部时间周三上午11点开始。
周二，在凤凰城举行的“美国转折点”活动上，一位情绪激动的莱克对她认为自己的法律团队取得的“巨大胜利”做出了反应，当谈到霍布斯和其他选举官员将不得不站在证人席上时，她显得有些头晕。
“昨天圣诞节提前来了，呜呜!”莱克对掌声说道。“我们得到了好消息。我们要把这些混蛋送上法庭!”
“她不能回避在我们的审判中作证。她必须出庭作证。凯蒂·霍布斯必须把手放在《圣经》上，发誓说实话，”她补充道。
但在当天晚些时候的逆转中，国务卿办公室的一名发言人证实，莱克的律师撤回了霍布斯作证的传票，并且不会传唤她出庭，即使汤普森法官拒绝了霍布斯律师阻止传票执行的请求。
据报道，莱克的律师库尔特·奥尔森曾与当时的总统交谈过1月6日，唐纳德·特朗普并推动阴谋论以证明推翻2020年选举的合理性，仍有机会传唤马里科帕县选举记录员斯蒂芬·里奇和马里科帕县监事会主席比尔·盖茨作为证人。
为了赢得她的案子，莱克有一个极高的门槛来证明马里科帕县选举工作人员故意干扰打印机来改变选举结果，并故意违反监管链规则，导致她失去足够的选票来影响选举。
她欢呼推进审判的决定是一个胜利，(小鸟)鸣叫，“扣好安全带，美国。这还远远没有结束。”
汤普森在裁决中写道，莱克“涉嫌足以影响选举结果的故意不当行为，因此陈述了一个需要超越诉状的事实问题”。“因此，原告必须在审判中证明BOD打印机故障是故意的，旨在影响选举结果，并且这种行为确实影响了选举结果。”
因为少了17000张选票电视新闻主播霍布斯(Hobbs)自称为“超级熊妈妈”，继续模仿特朗普，声称她的选举被操纵，此前她从未同意接受如果她失败的结果。根据社交媒体上发布的视频，她最近几周经常光顾特朗普的Mar-a-Lago俱乐部，向参加晚宴的客人抨击选举工作人员和媒体。她还在推特上请求支持者祈祷汤普森法官允许她重新投票，同时爆破筹款链接以帮助她的案件。
莱克的诉讼，本月初提交的充满了歪曲的指控，呼应特朗普失败的法律挑战，寻求完全推翻该州的选举并证明她是获胜者而不是霍布斯的特别救济。
民主党律师马克·埃利亚斯(Marc Elias)的公司代表霍布斯(Hobbs)，他表示相信，尽管案件将进入审判阶段，但莱克不会满足她的要求。
“证明蓄意不当行为以及它影响了选举结果对莱克来说是不可能的，”埃利亚斯说发微博。"这是一个谨慎的判断，但结论似乎不容置疑。"
莱克声称，在亚利桑那州一半以上选民的家乡马里科帕县，选举日“成千上万的选民，尤其是共和党人，由于长时间的等待而放弃投票，或者在看到混乱报道后干脆回避投票”。县官员坚持认为，尽管打印机问题影响了60%的选举日地点，但没有邪恶的行为，也没有选民被剥夺选举权，因为其他投票选项已经出现。
马里科帕县的一份报告发现，一些印刷商生产的选票用的墨水颜色太浅，无法被制表机读取。受影响的选民可以选择将选票放入一个名为“3号门”的安全箱子中，在选举日之后在马里科帕县的主要制表中心进行统计。
“所有选民仍然获得了合理、合法的投票选择，”马里科帕县检察官托马斯·利迪(Thomas Liddy)在报告随附的一封信中写道。
随着亚利桑那州选举挑战的加速，汤普森在为期两天的审判结束后将有五天的时间来发布他的裁决。预计会上诉。
Kari Lake election lawsuit will go to trial after judge dismisses most claims
Republican Kari Lake's election lawsuit will go to trial this week after an Arizona judge dismissed most -- but not all -- counts she put forward contesting her loss in the governor's race to Democrat Katie Hobbs.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson dismissed eight out of 10 claims late Monday but allowed two counts to proceed pertaining to alleged intentional misconduct affecting ballot printers and ballot chain of custody on Election Day.
The two-day trial will begin Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET.
A fired-up Lake reacted Tuesday at the Turning Point USA AmericaFest event in Phoenix to what she deemed a "huge win" for her legal team and appeared giddy when talking about how Hobbs and other election officials would have to take the witness stand.
"Christmas came early yesterday, woo!" Lake said to applause. "We got great news. We're taking these b******* to trial!"
"She can't duck out from taking the stand in our trial. She will have to take the stand. Katie Hobbs is gonna have to put her hand on the Bible and swear to tell the truth," she added.
But in a reversal later in the day, a spokesperson from the secretary of state's office confirmed that Lake's attorneys withdrew their subpoena for Hobbs to testify and will not call her to appear, even after Judge Thompson denied a request from Hobbs' attorneys to block the subpoena's enforcement.
Lake's attorney, Kurt Olsen, who reportedly talked to then-President Donald Trump on Jan. 6 and pushed conspiracy theories to justify overturning the 2020 election, still has the chance to call Maricopa County Elections Recorder Stephen Richer and Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chair Bill Gates as witnesses.
To win her case, Lake has an extremely high bar in proving that Maricopa County election workers intentionally interfered with printers to change the results of the election and intentionally violated the chain of custody rules, resulting in her losing enough votes to sway the election.
She's hailed the decision to move forward with a trial as a victory, tweeting, "Buckle up, America. This is far from over."
Lake has "alleged intentional misconduct sufficient to affect the outcome of the election and thus has stated an issue of fact that requires going beyond the pleadings," Thompson wrote in the ruling. "Accordingly, Plaintiff must show at trial that the BOD printer malfunctions were intentional, and directed to affect the results of the election, and that such actions did actually affect the outcome."
Since falling 17,000 votes short of Hobbs, the TV news anchor turned self-described "ultra-MAGA mama bear" has continued to model Trump, embracing claims her election was rigged after never agreeing to accept the results if she lost. She's frequented Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in recent weeks, blasting election workers and the media to dinner guests, according to videos posted on social media. She's also asked supporters on Twitter to pray for Judge Thompson to allow her a revote while blasting fundraising links to help with her case.
Lake's lawsuit, filed earlier the month and filled with distorted allegations that echo Trump's failed legal challenges, seeks extraordinary relief of fully overturning the state's election and certifying her as the winner instead of Hobbs.
Democratic attorney Marc Elias, whose firm is representing Hobbs, expressed confidence Lake won't meet her bar despite the case going to trial.
"Proving intentional wrongdoing and that it affected the outcome of the election will be impossible for Lake," Elias tweeted. "This is a careful judge, but the conclusion seems not in doubt."
Lake claims "thousands of voters, disproportionately Republican, gave up voting due to the long wait times or simply avoided the polls after seeing the chaos reported" on Election Day in Maricopa County, home to more than half of Arizona voters. County officials have maintained there was no nefarious behavior and no voters were disenfranchised as other voting options were presented despite the printer issues impacting 60% of Election Day locations.
A report from Maricopa County found that some printers produced ballots with ink that was too light to be read by tabulation machines. Impacted voters were given the option to put their ballots in a secure box known as "Door 3" to be counted after Election Day at Maricopa County's main tabulation center.
"All voters were still provided reasonable, lawful options for voting," Maricopa County attorney Thomas Liddy, a lifelong Republican, wrote in a letter accompanying the report.
With election challenges in Arizona on an accelerated timeline, Thompson will have five days from the end of the two-day trial to issue his ruling. It's expected to be appealed.
