Arizona GOP nominee sues election officials alleging incompetence impacted outcome of midterms

Arizona’s Republican Attorney General nominee Abe Hamadeh on Tuesday evening sued election officials across the state, alleging that “incompetence and mismanagement” had caused “pervasive errors” in the midterm elections.

In a statement, Hamadeh said the Republican National Committee had joined him in filing the 25-page complaint in Maricopa County Superior Court.

The suit comes as final unofficial vote tallies showed he lost to Democrat Kris Mayes by about 500 votes. An automatic recount is being launched.

Hamadeh’s suit alleges the final count was impacted by “election board misconduct, the tallying of unlawful ballots, and the erroneous counting of votes.”

“The voters of Arizona demand answers and deserve transparency about the gross incompetence and mismanagement of the General Election by certain election officials,” he said in a statement. “Pervasive errors by our election officials resulted in the disenfranchisement of countless Arizonans who had their voices silenced. 

“Arizonans deserve to have an election system that is transparent and fair and right now we have neither. Today’s challenge is the only way to provide accountability and restore confidence in our broken election system,” he added.