their vote dilution claim was more than a generalized grievance to the point of asserting an injury, Plaintiffs have not established that the Court can redress this grievance. To give Plaintiffs the relief they desire would disenfranchise the nearly 3.4 million Arizonans that voted in the 2020 General Election. Under Plaintiffs’ theory of dilution, this would transform all of the alleged diluted votes from being “diluted” to being destroyed. As Plaintiffs raise “only a generally available grievance about government—claiming only harm to his and every citizen’s interest in proper application of the Constitution and laws, and seeking relief that no more directly and tangibly benefits him than it does the public at large,” the Court finds that Plaintiffs’ Count Two “does not state an Article III case or controversy.” See Lance, 549 U.S. 437 at 439. Therefore, Plaintiffs do not have standing to bring suit in this forum.[1]
- B. Abstention
Defendants also argue the Court should abstain from reaching Plaintiffs’ claims based on their similarities with ongoing state court cases. Yesterday, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled on one such case—filed by Dr. Kelli Ward—seeking to “set aside the 2020 General Election results.” See Ward, CV 2020-015285 (Ariz. 2020); (Doc. 81-1). That case was filed pursuant to A.R.S. § 16-672 and was also filed after Governor Ducey certified the election results on November 30, 2020. (Doc. 58-1 at 17). The Ward plaintiffs alleged an insufficient opportunity to observe election officials, an overcounting of mail-in ballots by not adequately comparing signatures on the ballot envelopes, and errors in the ballot duplication process. (Id. at 17–21). After an evidentiary hearing, the Maricopa County Superior Court issued a ruling on December 4, 2020, finding that there was no misconduct, fraud, or effect on the outcome of the election.[2] (Id.) This ruling was
- ↑ Having established that the Court does not have jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ Counts One through Three, the Court will decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Count Four, which pleads no federal cause of action and is entirely based on alleged fraud under Arizona law.
- ↑ Judge Randall H. Warner of the Maricopa County Superior Court addressed Ward’s allegations of election misconduct. First, Ward argued that there was an insufficient opportunity to observe the actions of election officials. The State Court dismissed that claim as untimely, holding that “[t]he observation procedures for the November general election were materially the same as for the August primary election, and any objection to
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