The Arizona Supreme Court issued a unanimous verdict on Thursday, siding with the Arizona Republican Party (ARP) in a pivotal legal battle stemming from the 2020 elections. The ruling overturned previous decisions by a trial court and the Arizona Court of Appeals, which had mandated that the ARP and its attorneys pay legal fees for the defense mounted by the state.
The lawsuit initiated by the ARP contested the procedures used in the post-election hand-count of ballots in Maricopa County, arguing that the process did not align with statutory requirements. The courts below had ruled against the ARP, labeling the lawsuit as groundless and in bad faith, thereby imposing legal fees as a penalty. However, the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision paints a different picture.
The justices found that the lawsuit was neither frivolous nor initiated in bad faith, effectively vacating the penalties imposed earlier. The opinion, authored by Justice Lopez, articulated that the claims were substantive enough to merit judicial consideration, free from the motivations ascribed by the lower courts. The core of the Supreme Court’s opinion centered on the interpretation of state election law and the manual recount procedures that followed the 2020 general election. The ARP had raised