Arizona prosecutors dismiss fake voter case but vow to seek new indictments

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Attorney General Chris Mayes is dismissing a sprawling criminal case that alleged former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and others tried to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss in the state.

The decision announced Thursday marks the third bogus election case brought by states to be dismissed, though a Democratic attorney general has pledged to send it back to a grand jury in hopes of getting another indictment.

The legal maneuver is aimed at getting around a Friday deadline to begin new grand jury proceedings after Mayes lost his appeal earlier this month. The appeal was filed after defense attorneys successfully argued that the original grand jury was not shown the relevant parts of the law governing how presidential contests are certified.

Similar cases were dismissed by courts in Michigan and Georgia, and a special prosecutor dropped a federal case in late 2024 that accused Trump of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. Those cases ended after Trump defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024. Cases related to the fake voter scheme remain in Nevada and Wisconsin.

The Nevada charges were dismissed in 2024 after a judge concluded that Clark County, the state’s most populous county and home to Las Vegas, was the wrong place to hear the case. But later that year, the case was refiled in Carson City, the state capital of Nevada.

Read more: Trump pardons Rudy Giuliani and others who supported efforts to overturn the 2020 election, official says

The Arizona case was stalled for more than a year while Mayes pursued the appeal.

In Arizona, defense lawyers said the law allows multiple lists of electors to be submitted to Congress if the results are contested. Federal law was amended in 2022 to stipulate that a state can submit only one slate of electors and that state governors are responsible for signing.

Joe Biden won Arizona in 2020 by 10,457 votes.

The state’s attorney general faced significant challenges in presenting her case.

It was filed nearly three and a half years after the 2020 election, and brings complex conspiracy charges against the 18 defendants. Dozens of motions to dismiss filed by defense attorneys have slowed progress in court.

READ MORE: Mark Meadows pleads not guilty to Arizona felony charges alleging false voter submissions

The first judge in the case recused himself in late 2024 after an email surfaced in which he asked his fellow justices to speak out against attacks on Harris’ campaign for president. The judge next ordered the case returned to a grand jury.

Among the 18 defendants in Arizona were two former Trump aides, five lawyers working for Trump, and 11 Republicans who filed a document falsely claiming that Trump won Arizona.

Three defendants settled their cases, including the defendant who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge.

The rest pleaded not guilty. Some said they signed the certificate in case Trump won court challenges and a new slate of electors was urgently needed before Congress’ Jan. 6 deadline for counting votes.

The issue has factored into Arizona’s attorney general race, with both of Mayes’ Republican challengers publicly saying they would drop charges if elected to the position.