Mohave Court Rules Abe Petition Fails

In a landmark ruling, the Mohave County Superior Court ruled from the bench that the petition to recall Arizona Governor Doug Ducey failed due to “lots of voter errors from just not following instructions.” The court cited Maricopa County’s efforts to fix these errors as evidence that they were doing their job. The petition was filed by a group called Recall Doug Ducey Now and sought to remove Governor Ducey from office for alleged misconduct in office. The group collected more than 590,000 signatures on their petition but fell short of the 731,000 required by law. Maricopa County officials had flagged nearly 20,000 signatures as invalid due to voter errors such as incorrect addresses or missing information. The county also identified more than 1,200 duplicate signatures and several hundred that appeared to be fraudulent. In his ruling, Judge Michael Kemp noted that while Maricopa County was doing its job in identifying these issues, it was ultimately up to voters to make sure their signatures were valid and accurate before submitting them on the petition. He said this was especially important given the high stakes involved in a recall election. The ruling is seen as a major victory for Governor Ducey who has been under intense scrutiny since taking office in 2015. It also serves as an important reminder for voters about how critical it is to follow instructions when signing petitions or voting in elections.