Arizona Supreme Court Refuses Vote Extension As Kari Lake Trails Gallego

The Arizona Supreme Court has declined to extend the deadline for voters to correct issues with their mail-in ballots as the Senate race between Kari Lake and Ruben Gallego goes down to the wire.
So far, no Senate winner has emerged in Arizona and, as of Sunday morning, Democrat Ruben Gallego was narrowly ahead of Lake, according to projections from The Associated Press, with Gallego leading with 49.7 percent of the vote compared with Lake’s 48.2 percent.
At the time of writing, around 92 percent of the vote had been counted.
On Sunday, the court ruled that election officials in eight of the state’s 15 counties had adequately informed voters of signature discrepancies and given them the opportunity to resolve the issue.
Newsweek contacted Lake’s and Gallego’s campaign teams on Monday by email for comment.
Voter rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Campaign Legal Center, had sought an emergency court order to extend the deadline, arguing that delays in vote counting and notification left many voters at risk of having their ballots invalidated.
In a petition filed on Saturday, they called for an extension of up to four days, citing concerns over the verification process for the more than 250,000 mail-in ballots that had yet to be reviewed as of Friday evening.
Arizona law requires that voters who submit mail-in ballots be notified of issues, such as a signature mismatch, and be given a “reasonable” opportunity to correct the problem through a process called “curing.”
Justice Bill Montgomery, who served as duty judge for the seven-member court, said: “The Court has no information to establish in fact that any such individuals did not have the benefit of ‘reasonable efforts’ to cure their ballots.”
He also pointed out that none of the responding counties requested an extension of time.
The decision could hamper Lake, who is a staunch Donald Trump ally and became a household name after the 2022 midterm election.
Lake, who has been described as “Trump in heels,” has attracted national attention to the race in Arizona, especially since Trump won the key swing state over Kamala Harris in this year’s presidential election.
Trump picked up 11 electoral college votes in the state, giving him a total of 312 to Harris’ 226.
With votes still being counted, Gallego has remained mostly silent online. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday he said: “We are closely watching as the results come in, and we’re feeling very optimistic.”
Will Lake Concede Arizona?
Multiple papers and organizations have called the race for Gallego, including election data organization Decision Desk HQ. The Associated Press has not yet called the race and Lake has not conceded.
On Sunday, @KariLakeWarRoom shared a post that read: “Need help curing your ballot? We’re here for you! Even after the election, we’re still working to support our fellow Republican candidates and ensure Kari Lake crosses the finish line.”
Republicans are on the verge of reclaiming the House majority, which would give them full control of Congress, just days after the party secured the presidency and the Senate.
The current House breakdown stands at 213 Republicans and 203 Democrats, with 19 races still too close to call. Republicans need to win five of those races to secure a majority, while Democrats must win 15.
Lake’s relatively low support among Trump voters in Arizona is notable when compared to his performance in the state’s previous two presidential races.
In 2016, Republican Sen. John McCain won his final term in office on the same night that Trump carried Arizona.
In 2020, Sen. Martha McSally, who was appointed to the seat after McCain’s 2018 death, ran as a Trump supporter. But in 2020 both she and Trump lost in the state.