A Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled that two of Arizona Republican Kari Lake's 10 complaints in her election lawsuit will be permitted to head to trial, CNN has reported.
Judge Peter Thompson ruled that Lake's eight other complaints will be immediately dismissed.
Lake lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs, the secretary of state, by about 17,000 votes in last month's election for Arizona governor.
One of the allegations the judge permitted involved the printers used on Election Day, with the Lake campaign now allowed to present evidence to support her claim that a Maricopa County employee interfered with the printers, which caused Lake to lose votes.
The other allegation the judge is permitting is for Lake's attorneys to give evidence that Maricopa County violated its election manual concerning the ballot chain of custody, CNN reported.
According to the Lake campaign, one of the reasons for her loss was that an unknown number of ballots were added.
In addition, Thompson ruled that Hobbs may be called to testify as secretary of state, a position she will hold until she is sworn in as governor.
The judge ordered a two-day trial to begin before Jan. 2 in line with an Arizona law that election-related lawsuits must adhere to a strict timetable.
After the decision, Lake tweeted that "our Election Case is going to trial. Katie Hobbs attempt to have our case thrown out FAILED. She will have to take the stand & testify," adding that "this is far from over."
Lake has also been tweeting out links to a fundraising site, encouraging supporters to send money for her legal effort, CNN reported.
Marc Elias, a Democrat attorney who is representing Hobbs, called the judge's ruling a victory, emphasizing that most of the claims were thrown out and that a higher hurdle lies ahead in the trial.
Elias insisted on Twitter that "proving intentional wrongdoing and that it affected the outcome of the election will be impossible for Lake," adding that "this is a careful judge, but the conclusion seems not in doubt."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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