Two Arizona Republicans have filed a second lawsuit against the Arizona GOP and the party’s chairwoman, Kelli Ward, over state party elections that took place in January.
Tim La Sota, an attorney representing the pair, said on Tuesday they asked a judge for an injunction to keep the party from blocking redo elections that they say should take place on April 24, according to KTAR News.
ARIZONA GOP CHAIRWOMAN KELLI WARD CLAIMS FRAUD AMONG SIGNATURES SEEKING REDO OF PARTY ELECTIONS
The pair of GOP activists, William Beard and Sandra Dowling, filed a lawsuit in Maricopa Superior Court in March, asking a judge to require the state party to explain why it should not conduct an audit of Ward’s election.
The new lawsuit claims that more than 350 Republican Party State Committee members signed a petition to hold a special meeting in which they would vote on whether to redo the party’s elections.
In a statement on Tuesday, Ward contended that an unspecified number of those members contacted the party “claiming that their names are being used without permission by those who lost their elections in January and that any signature from them is fraudulent.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to La Sota for comment on Ward’s allegation, to which he simply replied, “Any assertion that any of the signatures were fraudulent is a complete fabrication.”
In a January runoff election, Ward won reelection to the state party’s top spot by a lead of 42 votes.
Afterward, the plaintiffs say they and other party members asked for an audit of the vote due to “the significant number of irregularities and general chaos” surrounding it. No such audit took place.
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That is when the request for a redo happened. Ward said in her statement that no special meeting will take place on April 24.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Arizona Republican Party for comment on the new lawsuit but did not immediately hear back.
Editor’s note: This piece has been updated to correctly reflect the month in which the original lawsuit was filed.
