PHX Reporter

Kari Lake (R), a former gubernatorial candidate, filed a lawsuit against Maricopa County in late November.

Lake accused county officials of violating election laws, according to AzCentral. She is seeking information about voters and ballots that were allegedly affected by printing problems on Election Day. She announced the lawsuit on the "War Room" podcast – hosted by Steve Bannon, former strategist for President Donald Trump – and called the Nov. 8 election "the shoddiest election ever, in history." Lake lost to Katie Hobbs (D) by approximately 17,000 votes.

"We want some information," Lake said. "We're on a timeline, a very strict timeline when it comes to fighting this botched election, and they're dragging their feet."

Through the lawsuit, Lake asked for information such as the names and contact information of voters at certain polling sites, AzCentral reported. She is also looking into the verification process for voters who were out of the country and submitted absentee ballots. Lake's lawsuit alleged that nearly 120 voting centers endured problems with their printers and ballots.

"These public records are vital to the integrity of the election process and necessary to show, ahead of canvassing, that every legal ballot was properly counted," the lawsuit read in part.

Bill Gates, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors chairman, said the number of printer issues was closer to 60, according to CBS News. He said the issues were technical; the ink was not dark enough for the tabulation machines to read.  Gates said the issues were fixed before the polls closed.

Lake claimed that officials are not cooperating. She told Bannon that more legal challenges were likely to follow.

"This is not our main case," she said. "When our main case drops, they will hear it. Trust me, they will hear it." 

Lake said since Election Day that there were ballot problems in Maricopa County, CBS News reported. She told Fox News on Nov. 9 that the state had "shoddy elections that are run by imbeciles." She said she would call for a special session of the state legislature to address the issue if she was elected governor.

Gates said that Lake's accusations were inaccurate.

"We're absolutely not slow-rolling it, and if their team had been paying attention before the election, they would have heard us talk about this over and over again, that we would not have results on election night or even the next day – that it was going to take several days," he said. "And, quite frankly, it is offensive for Kari Lake to say these people behind me are slow-rolling this when they are working 14 to 18 hours."