The top election official in Maricopa County is suing former Arizona governor Kari Lake for her reported lies regarding the 2022 election. Stephen Richer, the Maricopa County Recorder, filed a lawsuit against Lake, Lake For Arizona, Save Arizona Fund, Inc., an organization that raises money for Lake, on Thursday.

Richer has filed a 104-page suit in Maricopa County Superior Court on Thursday, claiming two main claims regarding the election of 2022 in Maricopa County.

“Ballot Size Sabotage

Richer says Lake spread lies repeatedly, claiming he intentionally printed images of 19 inches on ballots 20 inches in order to cause the electronic tabulators to jam throughout the day. Richer claims that Lake thought that because the tabulators were jammed, Richer (Richer), had entered 300,000 illegal early voting ballots to change the outcome of the election. Lake is accused of spreading these lies in rallies, speeches and podcasts.

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Lawyers for Richer claim that Lake’s campaign, and the fundraising corporation, supported the false statements in order to raise money.

“Knowing and malicious falsehoods”

In the lawsuit, lawyers claim that Richer’s family has been the target of death threats and confrontations in person due to the falsehoods propagated by Lake and her campaigns. Richer, his wife and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and Phoenix Police have allegedly spent thousands on home security and increased patrols. Richer has stated publicly that he does not have responsibility for Election Day operations. Maricopa County Recorder’s Office handles much of the work that leads up to Election Day. This includes registering voters and maintaining voter records. Election Day, as well as any in-person votes during the weekend prior to Election Day, are under the jurisdiction of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

False Claim Examples

Richer’s team of lawyers included dozens pages of copies of tweets, mailers and other materials from Lake to spread false allegations. The lawsuit includes three defamation claims regarding the sabotage of ballot sizes accusation, and two defamation claims for the illegal ballot infusion accusation.

Richer wants to recover damages for his injuries, including punitive damages and normal damages. He also wants to be reimbursed for the legal fees he incurred. Richer also asks the court to order the removal of all statements about ballot size and allegations of illegal ballot injection from websites and social media.

Arizona’s Family reached out to Kari, her campaign and fundraising groups for any comments regarding the lawsuit. Lake responded to the lawsuit via Twitter after not hearing from her in hours.