Trump election lawsuit in Arizona's Maricopa County dismissed, outcome wouldn't have affected races

An attempt by Republican officials to have more Maricopa County ballots reinspected by hand, possibly changing final vote tallies, has failed. 

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Kiley on Friday dismissed claims filed on behalf of Donald Trump's campaign, the Republican National Committee and the Arizona Republican Party as moot, meaning further legal proceedings are pointless.

The scope of the lawsuit had narrowed since Republican officials filed it Saturday, alleging “potentially thousands" of Arizona voters had been disenfranchised on Election Day.

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They claimed Maricopa County poll workers had systematically overridden ballots with possible "overvotes" — which happen when voters mark more options than allowed in a particular race — instead of allowing voters to make that choice themselves. 

The plaintiffs had asked election officials to go back and identify all ballots with overvotes cast in partisan races in Maricopa County on Election Day, to manually inspect those ballots and to discard votes only in cases when “it is impossible to positively determine the voter’s choice.”

© David Wallace/The Republic Maricopa County Elections employee Charles Cooley tabulates the few thousand remaining ballots at the Maricopa County Elections headquarters in Phoenix, Ariz., on November 12, 2020.

But after a six-hour hearing Thursday, Trump attorney Kory Langhofer narrowed that ask significantly. 

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© Rob Schumacher/The Republic Mail-in ballots are tabulated at the Maricopa County Elections Headquarters in Phoenix on Oct. 20, 2020.

At that point, he said, plaintiffs sought only a reinspection of overvoted ballots in cases where the number of overvotes was greater than the margin of the winning candidate's victory. 

The judge seemed amenable to considering the request, saying he would take it under advisement. County officials had estimated just 960 or so ballots cast were at issue.

But lawyers for the defendants argued there was nothing in state law authorizing such a review. They said the ballots in question had already been tabulated, and "counting ballots that have already been counted is a recount." 

Arizona does not allow recount requests and has strict criteria for automatic recounts.

By Friday morning, Langhofer had filed a motion acknowledging the outcome of the lawsuit would have no impact on Arizona’s presidential results. He noted a favorable ruling would, at most, be relevant in two down-ballot races.

Attorneys representing election officials also filed a notice Friday morning saying Maricopa County planned to finish counting ballots by 3 p.m. and requesting "the Court dismiss Plaintiffs’ claims as moot."

During a brief afternoon hearing, the parties agreed the 432 ballots Maricopa County had left to record and upload were unlikely to change the outcomes of any results. 

"The plaintiffs' claims are dismissed as moot," Kiley said. 

Follow Matia Poletta on Twitter @mpolletta.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Trump election lawsuit in Arizona's Maricopa County dismissed, outcome wouldn't have affected races