Judge denies 1st motion over Arizona's 5th District race

Answers 5 News ^ | September 6, 2016 | Paul Davenport

[Clintonfatigued]

A judge denied Tuesday the first attempted roadblock to an official recount in the hotly contested Republican primary in a Phoenix-area congressional district.

Unofficial results from the Aug. 30 primary for the 5th Congressional District had state Senate President Andy Biggs leading former internet executive Christine Jones by only nine votes out of some 85,500 votes cast in the four-way race.

Lawyers for Jones' campaign asked for a Maricopa County Superior Court judge to order county officials to delay certification of the results and take other steps to correct alleged errors.

Jones' campaign contends the county should have counted votes from at least 300 eligible voters who cast ballots that weren't counted for various reasons and that some improperly identified people may have been allowed to vote.

Reasons why eligible voters' ballots weren't counted included that they cast provisional ballots in the wrong precinct and their signatures on early ballot affidavits were incorrectly rejected, according to Jones' attorneys.

Judge Joshua Rogers denied Jones' request for a temporary restraining order and scheduled a Thursday morning hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction.

The GOP nominee in the heavily Republican district in southeastern Phoenix suburbs will almost certainly replace Republican Rep. Matt Salmon, who is retiring.

[Clintonfatigued]

Andy Biggs is an insider’s insider and his last-minute surge is just too convenient. I hope Jones wins this.

[AzNASCARfan]

their signatures on early ballot affidavits were incorrectly rejected

Looks like I need to look into how to verify if my vote got counted, assuming that is possible. I'm not in the district, but never really thought about it. I signed up to vote by mail a few years ago when Maricopa County said my voting location (walking distance) was closing and I was going to have to drive about 3 miles to vote... I saw the writing on the wall (and long lines ahead). Now, I would say I like it though, I used to miss some of the smaller local elections and have voted every time since they show up in my mailbox now. After reading this, just makes me wonder if they are getting counted?

[Impy]

Well it was noteworthy how he closed the gap but I wouldn’t get ahead of ourselves with allegations of chicanery. Not every close election is suspicious (unless it’s a general election with the rat ahead).