Are ballot envelopes public record? Kari Lake voter challenge to be heard in court

Former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake wants to review the signatures of about 1.3 million Maricopa County residents who voted early last year, and a judge has granted her a two-day trial to make her case to do so.

The trial in September may sort out whether the signatures on the green affidavit envelopes voters use to return their early ballots are a public record, as Lake argues, or not subject to public review, as argued by the county.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Hannah last week set the trial for Sept. 21 and 25.

Lake, a former television news anchor who lost the race for the governor's office to Democrat Katie Hobbs by 17,117 votes in November, continues to claim without evidence that she is the rightful governor and a victim of a rigged election system. Still, she has repeatedly teased a possible run for U.S. Senate in 2024 and has continued as one of former President Donald Trump's most outspoken supporters even as he's faced four criminal indictments this year.

Lake and her attorneys, who were previously fined $2,000 for lying to the Arizona Supreme Court in Lake's separate but related election case, filed a lawsuit seeking ballot affidavit envelopes in late April. They initially sued several county elections officials and the Republican-majority Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, but Hannah granted motions to dismiss those defendants, leaving Recorder Stephen Richer as the lone defendant.

Attorney Bryan Blehm of Scottsdale had filed a public records request a month earlier, which the county denied, citing state law that it said prevents disclosure of voter signatures. Blehm argued that the ballot affidavits would help Lake in her election case, and the envelopes and the signatures on them are not private because they enter the public sphere — "the stream of commerce" — as soon as the voter signs and returns the ballot package.

Blehm argues that the signatures are subject to disclosure under Arizona Public Records Law, which requires certain documents and communications that shed light on government functions and actions of public officials be made available to the public. Often, those records are provided only after a formal request.

The county, in denying Lake's request, cited a state law — Arizona Revised Statute 16-168 — that it says supersedes public records law.

That law makes releasing certain information about a voter a low-level felony crime. While some voter registration information is available to the public, the county argues the statute is clear on what is not available: birth month and day, Social Security number, driver's license number and other records, including "the records containing a voter’s signature and a voter’s email address." The law includes seven exceptions — people to whom the records can be released, such as news reporters — but Lake does not qualify for any of those exceptions, the county argued in court filings.

The county contends the records also should not be released because of a "best interest of the state" exemption to the public records law, saying that releasing the signatures could "invite voter fraud," put the public at risk of identity theft and "negatively impact voters’ desire to participate in democracy," should their confidential information be publicly released.

Lake announced the "BREAKING NEWS!" that she would get another trial related to last year's election on her Save Arizona Fund website on Monday. The post directs supporters to a fundraising page, suggesting donation amounts of up to $100,000.

"I'm never, ever stopping fighting to get our elections reformed. We want honest elections," Lake said Monday during a podcast interview with Steve Bannon, a former adviser to Trump who was sentenced to four months in jail for refusing to cooperate with the U.S. House committee investigating the violent breach of the nation's Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Lake has had two separate two-day trials related to her claim that she won the gubernatorial election but has failed to provide evidence to support the claim.

The Arizona Supreme Court in March affirmed Lake's loss, and Hobbs' victory, but Lake continues to appeal. Even if a judge were to order the county to provide the ballot affidavit envelopes with signatures, it likely would be too late for Lake to introduce new evidence in her election case.

Lake told Bannon this week the envelopes would show mismatched signatures and thus "bogus ballots that they're counting."

The Arizona Republic emailed Lake's spokesperson with questions and a request for comment but received no response.

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Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kari Lake challenge over ballot envelopes to be decided in court