Lawsuit filed to knock Ken Bennett off Republican ballot for Arizona governor

Dustin Gardiner | The Republic | azcentral.com

A lawsuit seeks to knock Ken Bennett off the ballot for Arizona governor over accusations that he did not submit enough valid voter signatures to qualify.

Bennett, a former Arizona secretary of state, is challenging Gov. Doug Ducey for the Republican nomination in the Aug. 28 primary election.

On Wednesday, political supporters of Ducey filed a lawsuit arguing Bennett's signatures are invalid for a host of reasons, including that they don't match signatures on voter records or were signed by Democrats or unregistered voters.

Primary candidates in Arizona must collect signatures from registered voters who are members of their party or independents to appear on the ballot.

In the lawsuit, attorneys Kory Langhofer and Thomas Basile contend at least 1,316 of Bennett's signatures aren't valid. Bennett jumped into the gubernatorial primary in late April, with little time to collect signatures before the filing deadline.

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Bennett didn't respond to requests for comment. He did, however respond to the lawsuit on Twitter.

"Looks like my campaign hit Ducey's 'inbox,'" Bennett posted on Twitter. "He wants to hit 'delete.' I will vigorously defend almost 8,000 voters from having their voices disenfranchised. More to come. #DuceyGoonsIncompetent."

Looks like my campaign hit Ducey's 'inbox'. He wants to hit 'delete'. I will vigorously defend almost 8,000 voters from having their voices disenfranchised. More to come. #DuceyGoonsIncompetent — Ken Bennett (@BennettArizona) June 14, 2018

While the lawsuit doesn't make outright accusations of a forgery scheme, it alleges that Bennett's petitions contain at least 206 signatures that don't match the signatures on voter-registration records.

"Irrespective of whether the variance is the product of proven forgery or other misconduct, the affected signatures are invalid," the lawsuit states.

The suit states an additional 10 signatures are "suspiciously similar" to other signatures on the same petition sheet, "thus indicating that they were affixed by someone other than the purported signer."

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To qualify for the Republican primary ballot for governor, a candidate must submit at least 6,223 valid signatures from registered voters. Bennett submitted 7,833, according to the Secretary of State's Office.

County elections officials from the counties where Bennett gathered signatures will now conduct a detailed review of the signatures in question.

Then, the lawsuit likely will be argued in court, where a judge will determine what signatures are valid and whether Bennett ultimately has enough to remain on the GOP ballot.

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