Kari Lake and Mark Finchem's Supreme Court Appeal: New Evidence or Pipe Dream?

Kari Lake and Mark Finchem are continuing their legal crusade to ban Arizona’s vote counting machines. They have approached the U.S. Supreme Court, presenting what they claim to be “new evidence” justifying a complete hand recount of the 2022 election.

Mike Lindell’s Allegations

Throughout the week, My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, who is funding their lawsuit, has been asserting that he has uncovered “the most explosive evidence ever!” Lindell even went as far as to declare that this evidence will "shock the world." He urged people to buy percale sheets from his company and distribute them along with information about the Supreme Court appeal.

The Appeal

Despite the hype, a review of the 52-page appeal did not reveal any groundbreaking revelations. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer similarly downplayed the significance of the purported "new evidence," describing it as "same old crazy" with no chance of gaining attention from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Legal History and Rejected Claims

Lake and Finchem, both former candidates for governor and secretary of state and current candidates for the U.S. Senate and state Senate, filed a lawsuit against the state and Maricopa County in April 2022 to halt the machine counting of votes. Their lawsuit contended that the tabulation machines were susceptible to hacking and insisted that the only way to verify the vote count was through paper ballots, despite Arizona already utilizing paper ballots and conducting hand counts to validate machine tallies.

However, U.S. District Court Judge John J. Tuchi dismissed their lawsuit in August 2022, deeming it frivolous and imposing sanctions on the lawyers involved. Tuchi emphasized that proving both security flaws in tabulation machines and manipulation of election results was necessary to succeed in their case. The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld Tuchi’s ruling in October, emphasizing that the lawsuit relied on hypothetical scenarios without any basis in Arizona's election processes.

Latest Allegations

In their recent appeal to the Supreme Court, Lake and Finchem presented what they claim to be new evidence warranting a hand recount of the 2022 election and all future elections. Their arguments echo previous claims against Maricopa County and now extend to alleging misconduct by Dominion Voting Systems. Specifically, they accuse Dominion of configuring tabulation machines in a way that allows for unauthorized access and manipulation, drawing parallels to significant historical events.

However, the appeal failed to provide credible sources for these alarming assertions, and crucially, it lacked evidence that the machines were compromised. Nonetheless, Lake and Finchem adamantly push for a hand recount of the 2022 election and advocate for abandoning machine tabulation of votes across the country.

Factual Evaluation

Despite their persistent efforts, the appeal still lacks concrete evidence of tampering with the tabulation machines. Furthermore, it fails to address the findings of independent experts and the assurance that the machines were not connected to the internet. This absence of substantial proof calls into question the credibility of their claims.

Implications for Voting Infrastructure

Notwithstanding the absence of evidence, Lake and Finchem assert that the alleged vulnerabilities in the voting infrastructure demand immediate action ahead of the 2024 election. They contend that states employing Dominion voting machines cannot be trusted unless significant changes are implemented. The overall impact of their allegations remains a subject of skepticism given the absence of compelling substantiation.