Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers demanded an opportunity to inspect “the affidavit envelopes and signature exemplars from Maricopa County records used in the 2022 election” from the Maricopa County Recorder earlier today.
Senator Rogers, Chairwoman of the Arizona Senate Elections Committee, fired off the following tweet with a photocopy of her new public records request.
Rogers: As Arizona Senate Elections Committee Chair, I have submitted a Public Records Request to inspect the affidavit envelopes and signature exemplars from Maricopa County records used in the 2022 election.
💥 BOOM💥
As Arizona Senate Elections Committee Chair, I have submitted a Public Records Request to inspect the affidavit envelopes and signature exemplars from Maricopa County records used in the 2022 election. pic.twitter.com/XB0pUAq8OS
— Wendy Rogers (@WendyRogersAZ) April 3, 2023
Maricopa County refuses to provide Kari Lake’s legal team with the allegedly fraudulent ballot signatures. This is despite a recent ruling from the Arizona Supreme Court ordering the trial court to reconsider the issue of signature verification fraud.
Senator Rogers’ public records request for “legislative purposes” comes after Maricopa County denied a similar request from Kari Lake’s legal team.
The Gateway Pundit reported on Friday that Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer denied lawful public records requests from Kari Lake’s attorney and from The Gateway Pundit to examine voters’ signatures, citing ARS 16-168(F).
However ARS 16-168(F) states,
Any person in possession of a precinct register or list, in whole or part, or any reproduction of a precinct register or list, shall not permit the register or list to be used, bought, sold or otherwise transferred for any purpose except for uses otherwise authorized by this section. A person in possession of information derived from voter registration forms or precinct registers shall not distribute, post or otherwise provide access to any portion of that information through the internet except as authorized by subsection I of this section. NOTHING IN THIS SECTION SHALL PRECLUDE PUBLIC INSPECTION OF VOTER REGISTRATION RECORDS AT THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY RECORDER for the purposes prescribed by this section, except that the month and day of birth date, the social security number or any portion thereof, the driver license number or nonoperating identification license number, the Indian census number, the father’s name or mother’s maiden name, the state or country of birth and the records containing a voter’s signature and a voter’s e-mail address shall not be accessible or reproduced by any person other than the voter, by an authorized government official in the scope of the official’s duties, for any purpose by an entity designated by the secretary of state as a voter registration agency pursuant to the national voter registration act of 1993 (P.L. 103-31; 107 Stat. 77), for signature verification on petitions and candidate filings, FOR ELECTION PURPOSES AND FOR NEWS GATHERING PURPOSES BY A PERSON ENGAGED IN NEWSPAPER, RADIO, TELEVISION OR REPORTORIAL WORK, OR CONNECTED WITH OR EMPLOYED BY A NEWSPAPER, RADIO OR TELEVISION STATION or pursuant to a court order. Notwithstanding any other law, a voter’s e-mail address may not be released for any purpose. A person who violates this subsection or subsection E of this section is guilty of a class 6 felony.
Because Lake’s request was made “for election purposes,” it is a perfectly lawful request, and Maricopa County should be required by law to follow through. The same goes for The Gateway Pundit, as we requested records “for news gathering purposes.”
Still, Lake and her attorneys were denied access to these public records by the Maricopa County Recorder, who claimed that because the early ballot envelopes “contain voters’ signatures,” the denial is in accordance with ARS 16-168(F) “and in the best interest of the state.”
This is false. The Statute provides that voter’s signatures may be “accessible or reproduced… for election purposes.”
Is this state’s best interest because it will bring into question the legitimacy of the state’s elections?
The Statute also states that “an authorized government official in the scope of the official’s duties” may access or reproduce voter registration records including “the month and day of birth date, the social security number or any portion thereof, the driver license number or nonoperating identification license number, the Indian census number, the father’s name or mother’s maiden name, the state or country of birth and the records containing a voter’s signature and a voter’s e-mail address.” Therefore, Senator Wendy Rogers, as Elections Committee Chair, is eligible to inspect the records.
The Gateway Pundit will continue to provide updates on Kari Lake’s legal challenge and the fight to examine ballot signatures.
