GOP #SharpieGate Effort Fails in Court
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump campaign’s #SharpieGate lawsuit in Arizona has officially run out of gas. Following yesterday’s hearing, Republicans dropped their claims regarding the presidential race given the state’s tabulation of votes for president statewide. The Trump campaign and Republican National Committee (RNC) had filed the lawsuit following a failed effort by a right-wing group challenging the use of Sharpie permanent markers as a ballot marking device. The pair of lawsuits — known as #SharpieGate — alleged that the use of Sharpies led to thousands of votes not being counted in Maricopa County. Maricopa County election officials quickly debunked the baseless claims and confirmed that Sharpies do not invalidate ballots.
The Arizona Democratic Party moved to intervene in the lawsuit — and today the group won. Today’s filing is the latest blow to the Trump campaign’s effort to undermine the validity of the 2020 election results. So far, nearly all lawsuits brought by Trump and his allies have been thrown out of court.