Arizona Judge Rejects Lawsuit In CD2 Race Recount
Another lawsuit has been rejected in the highly contested 2nd Congressional District race between Martha McSally and Ron Barber. A Tucson lawyer sued the Secretary of State over the recount process.
Bill Risner filed a lawsuit in Arizona Supreme Court on behalf of a handful of voters from Pima and Cochise counties. He argued the Secretary of State is not complying with state law requiring a different computer program be used in the recount.
Andy Gordon is an Election Lawyer in Phoenix. He said he predicted Judge Ann Scott Timmer would reject the lawsuit because Risner needs to go through a lower court first.
“People think that in election matters, that it’s so important they’ll try to go right to the top to begin with,” Gordon said.
He said Risner has to start with the Maricopa County Superior Court which has jurisdiction over the recount. The judge’s decision said as much, dismissing Risner’s petition under the “Rules of Procedure for Special Actions, without prejudice to pursue the claims and legal issues in the Superior Court.”
Risner referred to a statute in Arizona state law as the basis of his lawsuit. The statute explains the program used in a recount “shall differ from the programs ... used in the initial tabulation of the votes.”
“A computer program isn’t something that you take faith in. It can have bugs. You know things can happen with the program,” Risner said.
A spokesperson from the Secretary of State’s office said they have made changes to the existing program so that it reports only votes from District 2. He said this is how the law has been interpreted for past recounts.
Gordon said the lawsuit brings up a question that has never been litigated in Arizona.
“'The program has to differ,’ The question is how different does it have to be, to satisfy the statute?” he said.
The Maricopa County Superior Court ordered the recount Monday. The Secretary of State’s office expects to have the updated program tested and approved Wednesday. Barring any delays, Dec. 16 is the deadline for recount completion.
