The Lincoln Project's Motion for Leave to File Amicus Curiae Brief
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Clerk of the Superior Court *** Electronically Filed *** T. Hays, Deputy 11/10/2020 7:23:27 PM Filing ID 12207941 1 Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP 201 East Washington Street, Suite 1200 2 Phoenix, AZ 85004 Bruce E. Samuels (State Bar No. 015996) Direct Dial: (602) 262-0216 3 Email: [email protected] 4 KBN Law, LLC 7830 W. Alameda Ave., Suite 103-301 Lakewood, CO 80226 5 (720) 773-1526 Mario Nicolais (pro hac vice motion forthcoming) 6 Email: [email protected] Attorneys for The Lincoln Project 7 SUPERIOR COURT OF ARIZONA 8 COUNTY OF MARICOPA 9 Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., a No. CV2020-014248 10 federal political committee; Republican National Committee, a THE LINCOLN PROJECT’S MOTION 11 federal political party committee; and FOR LEAVE TO FILE AMICUS CURIAE the Arizona Republican Party, a BRIEF 12 political party committee, (Assigned to the Honorable Daniel Kiley) 13 Plaintiffs, 14 v. 201 East Washington Street, Suite 1200 Phoenix, AZ 85004 15 Katie Hobbs, in her official capacity as the Secretary of State of Arizona; 16 Adrian Fontes, in his official capacity as the Maricopa County Recorder; and 17 Jack Sellers, Steve Chucri, Bill Gates, Clint Hickman, and Steve Gallardo, in 18 their respective official capacities as members of the Maricopa County 19 Board of Supervisors, 20 Defendants. 21 22 The Lincoln Project respectfully moves, pursuant to this Court’s inherent authority, 23 to file a brief as amicus curiae to explain the relevant statutory deadlines relating to 24 canvassing election results and to emphasize the importance of expeditiously resolving 25 this case. The brief is attached hereto as Exhibit A. The Lincoln Project is an 26 organization composed primarily of Republicans and conservatives dedicated to 112762846.1 1 protecting voting rights and defeating candidates who have abandoned their constitutional 2 oaths. The Lincoln Project believes that the relief sought by Plaintiffs would endanger the 3 rights of millions of Arizonans including many supporters of The Lincoln Project. 4 I. Arizona trial courts have the authority to accept amicus curiae briefs. 5 Courts have “inherent power to do all things reasonably necessary for 6 administration of justice.” Schavey v. Roylston, 8 Ariz. App. 574, 575 (1968). Consistent 7 with this principle, Arizona trial courts have accepted amicus curiae briefs to assist the 8 court even in the absence of a specific trial court rule. See Home Builders Ass’n of Cent. 9 Ariz. v. City of Apache Junction, 198 Ariz. 493, 496 n.4 (App. 2000) (“Several amici have 10 appeared, both here and in the trial court, supporting the respective positions advanced by 11 the appellants, the City, and the District.”). 12 II. Interests of The Lincoln Project as amicus curiae. 13 Amicus curiae is The Lincoln Project, which has an interest in protecting voting 14 rights, particularly for supporters in Maricopa County and across Arizona. The Lincoln 201 East Washington Street, Suite 1200 Phoenix, AZ 85004 15 Project also has an interest in the accurate portrayal of Arizona’s election process and 16 procedures, and to ensure that the overall integrity of the election is not undermined by 17 baseless claims. In The Lincoln Project’s view, Plaintiffs’ request to halt canvassing and 18 certification of all votes pending the review of, at most, 180 potential erroneous overvote 19 ballots, undermines the concept of government “by the people, for the people” and stands 20 in contrast to the rules of law inherent in a democracy. 21 III. The Lincoln Project’s brief will be useful to the Court in ruling on the merits presented by the parties. 22 Amicus briefs may be filed where a court determines that amici “can provide 23 information, perspective, or argument that can help the appellate court beyond the help 24 that the parties’ lawyers provide.” Ariz. R. Civ. App. P. 16(b)(l)(C)(iii). Specifically, The 25 Lincoln Project, as an organization composed of Republicans, former Republicans and 26 conservatives and whose founders have run multiple Republican gubernatorial, senatorial, 112762846.1 2 1 and presidential campaigns throughout their careers, including those in leadership roles in 2 Senator John McCain’s campaigns for U.S. Senate and President of the United States, has 3 a unique ability "to provide information, perspective or argument " beyond that of the 4 parties. The rule, though not binding on the Court, provides guidance for determining 5 when to accept amicus curiae briefs. 6 IV. Conclusion. 7 The Lincoln Project respectfully requests that this Court grant the motion for leave 8 to file the accompanying amicus brief. 9 DATED this 10th day of November, 2020. 10 LEWIS ROCA ROTHGERBER CHRISTIE LLP 11 By: /s/Bruce E. Samuels Bruce E. Samuels 12 KBN LAW, LLC 13 By: /s/Mario Nicolais 14 Mario Nicolais 201 East Washington Street, Suite 1200 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (pro hac vice motion forthcoming) 15 Attorneys for The Lincoln Project 16 17 Electronically filed this 10th day of November, 2020, and a copy emailed to: 18 Kory Langhofer 19 Thomas Basile StateCraft 20 649 N. 4th St. Phoenix, AZ 85003 21 [email protected] [email protected] 22 Attorneys for Plaintiffs 23 Brett Johnson Eric Spencer 24 Snell & Wilmer L.L.P. 400 E. Van Buren, Ste. 1900 25 Phoenix, AZ 85004 [email protected] 26 [email protected] Attorneys for Plaintiffs 112762846.1 3 1 Thomas P. Liddy Emily Craiger 2 Joseph I. Vigil Joseph J. Branco 3 Joseph La Rue Maricopa County Attorney’s Office 4 225 W. Madison St. Phoenix, AZ 85003 5 [email protected] [email protected] 6 [email protected] [email protected] 7 [email protected] Attorneys for Maricopa County Defendants 8 Sara R. Gonski 9 Perkins Coie LLP 2901 N. Central Ave., Ste. 2000 10 Phoenix, AZ 85012 [email protected] 11 Attorneys for Proposed Intervenor Arizona Democratic Party 12 Roopali H. Desai D. Andrew Gaona 13 Kristen Yost Coppersmith Brockelman PLC 14 2800 N. Central Ave., Ste. 1900 201 East Washington Street, Suite 1200 Phoenix, AZ 85004 Phoenix, Arizona 85004 15 [email protected] [email protected] 16 [email protected] Attorneys for Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs 17 18 /s/Joye Allen 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 112762846.1 4 .