Democrats Intervene in GOP #SharpieGate Effort

WASHINGTON, D.C. The Arizona Democratic Party has moved to intervene in the latest effort by the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) to undermine the confidence in the validity of the 2020 election. Last week, a right-wing group filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court challenging the use of Sharpie permanent markers as a ballot marking device. The lawsuit gave rise to an online conspiracy theory — #SharpieGate — that alleges that Arizona voters were intentionally given Sharpie markers so that their votes would not be counted. The baseless claims were swiftly debunked by Maricopa County election officials, who confirmed that Sharpies do not invalidate ballots. On Saturday, the right-wing group voluntarily moved to drop the case.

After the case was dismissed, the Trump campaign and RNC filed a nearly identical lawsuit in Arizona Superior Court. According to the Arizona Democratic Party, the GOP lawsuit seeks to “throw the processing of ballots into disarray well past the eleventh hour, when nearly all ballots have been processed and counted.”

This lawsuit joins other legal challenges brought by the Trump campaign and by Republicans across the country aimed at delaying the counting and processing of ballots.

Learn more about the case here.