Mark Sonnenklar served as a roving attorney in Maricopa County during Arizona’s 2022 primary and general elections, published a comprehensive report regarding the experiences of eleven of the seventeen roving attorneys in Maricopa County on general election day, and was an important member of Kari Lake’s legal team during her election contest. Mark discusses the pervasive malfeasance of Maricopa County election officials during the 2022 general election.
For example, nearly 60% of the vote centers in Maricopa County had material problems getting the tabulators to tabulate the printed ballots on election day (when Republican voters outnumbered Democrats by three-to-one). This problem persisted throughout election day, despite disingenuous assertions by elections officials to the contrary. Second, Maricopa County’s elections officials admitted that they violated Arizona’s chain of custody laws and the Arizona Secretary of State’s Election Procedures Manual when they did not count the mail-in ballots that arrived at election headquarters on election day. Third, tens of thousands (and potentially hundreds of thousands) of mail-in ballots were plagued with signatures that egregiously or likely did not match the signatures in the applicable voter files, indicating the ballots were not filled out by actual voters.
Kari Lake filed an election contest in early December 2022 in an effort to have the court order a new election. However, before the election contest trial even began, the trial court judge dismissed eight of Kari’s ten legal claims. The timeline to collect evidence and to prepare Kari’s legal case was compressed. Discovery was not allowed. To make matters worse, the trial court judge required Kari Lake to prove that Maricopa County election officials engaged in intentional misconduct that was intended to change the results of the election even though historical legal precedents relating to election contests have never applied such a high standard and intentionality is nearly impossible to prove under the time constraints of an election contest.
Many of Kari Lake’s lawyers have been sanctioned and required to pay opponents’ legal costs in connection with a separate lawsuit. The 65 Project has filed bar complaints against four members of Kari Lake’s legal team. Shortly after Mark’s roving attorney report was released, his email account was suspiciously and maliciously hacked. Needless to say, Kari Lake’s legal team is under attack.
Guest Speaker: Mark Sonnenklar
Mark Sonnenklar is a corporate lawyer with a broad-based practice that includes mergers & acquisitions, equity financings, fund formation, strategic partnerships, licensing, and almost any other kind of commercial transaction. He acts as outsourced general counsel for many of his clients.
He cut his teeth as a corporate lawyer working at a large law firm, Morrison & Foerster LLP, during the dotcom boom. That experience shaped his disciplined work ethic and attention to detail.
Mark has also worked as outsourced general counsel for a variety of companies. As a result, he has developed an understanding of the business and operational needs of companies, translating into a practical approach to advising his clients.