Attorneys for failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake ex-Arizona Rep. Mark Finchem have been ordered to pay $122,200 to cover Maricopa County’s legal fees, a federal judge ruled on Friday. Lake and Finchem filed a lawsuit in 2022 when they were running for governor and secretary of state, respectively, asking to prohibit the use of electronic voting machines in the midterm election. The pair wanted election officials to require paper ballots that were to be counted by hand and falsely claimed machines produced inaccurate results. In response, Maricopa County argued Lake and Finchem violated the law by “pursuing frivolous constitutional claims,” U.S. District Court John J. Tuchi wrote in Friday’s order. Tuchi tossed out the lawsuit and granted the county’s request for sanctions against the lawyers. Now, attorneys Kurt Olsen, Andrew Parker and Alan Dershowitz will have to foot the bill. Lake has repeatedly refused to accept she lost to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and is being sued by a top Arizona election official for defamation.
