Hearing ordered on AZ signature verification allegations

FPI / May 9, 2023

The Arizona Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a hearing to take place "forthwith" regarding Kari Lake's lawsuit alleging signature verification violations in Maricopa County in November's election.

The court also denied a request for attorneys' fees by the county's lawyers.

Rasmussen Reports tweeted: "Apparently upwards of 300,000 mail ballots in Maricopa County Arizona will now be checked for missing or mismatched signature issues."

Lake, the Arizona GOP gubernatorial nominee, reportedly lost the 2022 election to Democrat Katie Hobbs by about 17,000 votes.

Lake is suing Hobbs, who was secretary of state during the election, current Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, and Maricopa County election officials, and is requesting that the election results be invalidated or that she be declared the winner.

Following the ruling, Lake tweeted: "For years signatures have been a third rail for Maricopa County. The process of verifying these signatures is the only security measure on mail-in ballots. The amount of time allotted to check these signatures was only 8 seconds, which is not humanly possible. The system is completely broken. That's why they are absolutely terrified of letting anyone take a look at their signatures. The signature verification process in Maricopa County is a house of cards. Thanks to this ruling my team will get the chance to topple it."

Three whistleblowers who "were intimately involved" in the signature verification process "allege that Maricopa County WILLFULLY ignored law and procedure," she added.

"This violation of procedure allowed for tens of thousands of illegal ballots to be approved and counted," Lake continued. "Aside from all other issues, including nearly 60% of polling locations being inoperable on Election Day, this issue alone casts the veracity of Katie Hobbs's victory in serious doubt."

A retired FBI counterintelligence agent with 45 years in signature analysis told Just the News that matching ballot signatures with little time to review is "almost illegal."

If election workers have a limited amount of time to review signatures on early ballots to ensure they match with voters' files, it's "almost illegal to have it work that way," said retired FBI Special Agent Wayne A. Barnes, adding, "almost pathetic."

Barnes told Just the News that election workers aren't given "enough time" to check if signatures are matching. Signature verification requires "at least four to five signatures that are valid" and "not questionable" in order to compare signatures to determine if the signature in question is valid, he explained.

In Arizona, signature verification is required for early ballots so that voters' signatures on the ballot envelopes can be checked against signatures on voters' files to ensure they match. There is no ID requirement when casting an early ballot.

While election workers verifying signatures are usually given training, Barnes said that signature verification isn't something that a person can easily be trained to do the way he has been doing it for 45 years.

"If states don't" require voters to show ID or picture ID" for comparison with those on file, then the "system is created to commit fraud," Barnes said.

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