PHOENIX (AP) — A judge has rejected Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s request to examine signed ballot envelopes of 1.3 million early voters. It’s another loss in her third trial related to last year’s election. The majority of the two-day bench trial was spent hearing testimony from Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, who is named as a defendant. Richer says state law mandates ballot envelope signatures remain confidential. Lake’s lawyer did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday. Her lawyer had argued they aren’t entitled to privacy protections simply because they contain signatures. Lake lost two trials that challenged her loss to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs by more than 17,000 votes.
