The ruling, filed w/the court clerk on Mon, will require Mayes to assemble a grand jury to present the case along with a copy of the #ElectoralCountAct, attys said. The initial presentation of her case took weeks. Mayes plans to appeal to try to get the prosecution back on track.

“We vehemently disagree with the court, & we will file a special action to appeal the ruling,” Mayes spox said.

Among those who were indicted were White House chief of staff #MarkMeadows, attorneys #RudyGiuliani, #JohnEastman & #ChristinaBobb, top campaign adviser #BorisEpshteyn & former campaign aide #MikeRoman. The grand jury accused them of unsuccessfully trying to award the state’s electoral votes to #Trump instead of #Biden even though Biden won the popular vote there.

An #Arizona grand jury last year indicted 18 people as part of the effort to reverse Joe #Biden’s 2020 presidential win in the state, including 7 attorneys & aides affiliated with #Trump’s national campaign & 11 Arizona #Republicans, including some who sought to act as fake presidential electors.

“We are extremely pleased with the court’s ruling, & we think the judge got it exactly right,” said Stephen Binhak, the attorney who spearheaded the effort to get the case back to a grand jury.

The decision is a major setback for #Arizona AG Kris Mayes (D), who promised to appeal the ruling so she could keep the prosecution going.

#MaricopaCounty Superior Court Judge Sam J. Myers sided w/ #Republicans & found that prosecutors failed to provide the grand jury w/the text of an 1887 federal #law that is central to the Republicans’ defense. The #law, known as the #ElectoralCountAct, spells out how presidential electoral votes are to be cast & counted.

#Georgia #Republicans said they want to replace the system when the current contract expires in 2028, but their #law is still scheduled to take effect next year. #GOP state Rep Victor Anderson said there is no realistic way to “prevent the train wreck that’s coming.”

The Secy of State said the voting system follows #Georgia #law, which requires federal certification at the time the system is bought. Nevertheless, the #Republican-controlled legislature has voted to ban the use of QR codes but did not allocate any money to make the change—a cost estimated at $66M.

Perhaps nowhere has the issue been more contentious than #Georgia, a presidential battleground. It uses the same QR code voting system across the state.

Marilyn Marks, exec dir of the Coalition for Good Governance, a lead plaintiff in the litigation over the system, said her group has not taken a position on #Trump’s #ExecutiveOrder but said the federal Election Assistance Commission should stop certifying machines that use barcodes.

Modifying or replacing the #LosAngeles system would be costly & take years, he said. The county’s current voting equipment is valued at $140 million. [& you just know that because of #Trump’s #ExecutiveOrder, the very deep blue Los Angeles election results will be challenged.]

…The nation’s most populous county, #LosAngeles, uses a system with a QR code that it developed over a decade & deployed in 2020 after passing a state testing & certification program.

The county’s chief #election ofcl, Dean Logan, said the system exceeded federal guidelines at the time & meets many of the standards outlined in the most recent ones approved in 2021. He said postelection audits have consistently confirmed its accuracy.

…#Trump’s order exempts voting equipment used by voters w/disabilities, but it promises NO federal money to help states & counties change systems using QR or barcodes.

Kim Dennison, #election coordinator of Benton County, AR, estimated updating the county’s system would cost ~$400k & take up to a year.

Dennison said she has used equipment that relies on coded ballots since she started her job 15 yrs ago & has never found an inaccurate result during postelection testing.

The section banning ballots that use QR or barcodes relies on a #Trump directive to a #FederalAgency, the US Election Assistance Commission, which sets voluntary guidelines for voting systems. Not all states follow them.

Some of the lawsuits say #Trump doesn’t have the #authority to direct the commission because it was established by #Congress as an #independent agency.

#Trump, in justifying the move, said in the order that his intention was “to protect election integrity.”

…Trump’s #election #ExecutiveOrder is being challenged in multiple lawsuits. One has resulted in a preliminary #injunction against a provision that sought to require proof of #citizenship when people register to vote [you already have to be a citizen. It’s idiotic].

Voting machines that give all voters a ballot with one of those codes are used in hundreds of counties across 19 states. 3 of them— #Georgia, #SouthCarolina & #Delaware—use the machines statewide.

Some computer scientists, Democrats & left-leaning election activists have raised concerns about their use, but those pushing #ConspiracyTheories about the 2020 election have been the loudest, claiming without evidence that manipulation has already occurred.

Reached by phone, Mr. Segura said, “The charges are ridiculous,” [100%] adding that he was advised by his lawyer not to comment further.…

“The people of Texas deserve fair & honest elections, not backroom deals & political insiders rigging the system,” #KenPaxton said in a statement. “Elected officials who think they can cheat to stay in power will be held accountable. No one is above the law” [except rich white male #Republicans like Paxton & #Trump]

Acc/to a statement by #KenPaxton’s office, a grand jury returned indictments against Rochelle Camacho, the county #judge of Frio County; Carlos Segura, a former elections administrator for Frio; Ramiro Trevino & Racheal Garza, #CouncilMembers for the city of Pearsall; Adriann Ramirez, a trustee w/the #school district in Pearsall; & Rosa Rodriguez, who is described as an “alleged Frio County vote harvester.”

Many fear that the exchange of money, such as for gas to help deliver a ballot or cast a vote could also be considered illegal. Wed’s indictment accused ofcls of using CashApp to pay one person to engage another to collect ballots.

It was unclear if other arrests were pending.

“I think this is all part of #VoterSuppression,” said Lidia Martinez, who was 87 last year when 9 officers, some w/ #guns, raided her home in San Antonio. She was not among the indicted.