By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX -- Yet another bid to overturn Arizona's election returns has been swatted down by a judge.
The latest ruling came Tuesday as Pinal County Superior Court Judge Kevin White ruled that Staci Burk lacked the legal standing to challenge the conduct of the election. White said only people who actually were registered to vote in the 2020 race can complain about its conduct and the results.
Burk admitted she was not registered.
She blamed that on county election officials who she claims illegally canceled her registration. And even if that were not the case, Burk contends that anyone who is eligible to vote -- registered or not -- has the right to sue over election returns.
But White, in tossing the case, said that's not the only problem with her claims. They range from widespread voter fraud and improper tallying by voting machines to someone flying flown a batch of ballots into Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport, some of which wound up being taken to the Maricopa County ballot tabulation center.
First, he said, Burk's original complaint was legally defective. But the judge said even if it were not, she simply waited too long to sue.
"Plaintiff waited until 35 days after the election and seven days after certification of the election to file her first complaint (albeit a defective one),'' White said.
And the judge said it took her even longer to add parties that were legally "indispensable'' to the case, including the 11 electors pledged to Biden whose vote she hoped to nullify.
Burk had said she did not know the names of the Biden electors. But their names actually have been on the Secretary of State's website for the entire election cycle.
She told Capitol Media Services she disagrees and intends to appeal to the state Supreme Court.
In the meantime, state GOP chair Kelli Ward waits to hear from the U.S. Supreme Court whether it will take up her claim.
Ward contends there were a series of mistakes in the counting and tabulating process. And she wanted more time to find them. But Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Randall Warner said that deadlines in federal law for resolving election disputes and the voting of the Electoral College did not allow for that.
Based on what Ward was able to review, Warner found there were errors, but in numbers so small that they could not have affected the results.
Her attorney, Jack Wilenchik, wants the nation's high court to void those presidential election deadlines set in federal law, return the dispute to Warner's court and give Ward the time she needs.
Only thing is, the justices have given the defendants in the case -- the 11 electors pledged to Biden -- until Jan. 14 to respond. That is eight days after Congress is set to review the electoral votes and formally declare the winner of the race.
So Wilenchik is asking the justices to expedite the matter. There is no indication whether they will do so.
Also seeking expedited U.S. Supreme Court review are the 11 Republicans who would have voted for Trump this week for the Electoral College vote. They are arguing a series of problems with how the general election was conducted included fraud and "statistical impossibility'' that Biden could have won the race here.