Kari Lake shines (in a slimy sort of way) in her Ohio election smear

About Kari Lake … sorry, Ohio.

Arizona’s not-so-favorite daughter took to X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday to announce to the world that electoral funny business was underway in the Buckeye State.

In what should be a surprise to absolutely no one, Lake boldly (read: falsely) announced to the world that the fix was in as Ohio voters went to the polls.

“This,” Lake’s ‘war room’ account announced, “is how they sabotage the will of the people.”

Actually, this is how one overly ambitious politician uses her considerable clout with the MAGA Nation to shamelessly promote a lie — and herself.

Kari Lake took her schtick to Ohio

We in Arizona are used to it.

In the last nine months, Lake has lost an election for governor, two trials wherein she claimed her victory was stolen and one appeal (the second one is pending).

Still, she cries from coast to coast about the many ways in which Republican-run Maricopa County conspired to deny her her due.

Now, she’s branching out.

Lake traveled to Ohio over the weekend to endorse a Senate candidate and urge voters to approve Issue 1.

The Republican Legislature’s proposal to make it harder for voters to change the state’s constitution — a move clearly aimed at defeating a coming constitutional amendment guaranteeing abortion rights — was on this week’s ballot.

There was a problem at 1 polling place

As voters went to the polls on Tuesday, a Cleveland television reporter posted to X, formerly Twitter, that ballot scanners weren’t working at a particular polling site near Akron.

“ALL ballot scanners are down & not working at Cuyahoga Falls polling location,” he reported to his 9,500 followers. “Voters & workers frustrated. Ballots either placed in orange bag & scanned later OR can void ballot & come back later.”

Lake quickly jumped to spread the word to her 1.4 million followers that Ohio’s election was rigged.

“Sound familiar??” she asked. “Looks like they took a page out of the Maricopa County ‘selections’ playbook. Today is Election Day in Ohio and the machines don’t work. The swampy never-Trumper Ohio Secretary of State was too busy running for another office to do his job making sure Election Day runs smoothly. Reminds me of the jackasses who run Maricopa County elections when they sabotaged Election Day to stop the will of We the People. Wake up America.”

Lake didn’t mention that the problem affected just one of Cuyahoga Falls’ 14 polling places.

Or that only a handful of voters in one of the state’s 88 counties were affected.

Lake piles on about election sabotage

Instead, she piled on about sabotage and such.

“They’re pulling the same trick in Cuyahoga Falls that they did in Maricopa County,” her ‘war room’ announced. “This Is how they sabotage the will of the people. And this is why we need to get rid of these machines nationwide.”

Lake didn’t post the reporter’s picture of the few people impacted by the problem.

Or the fact that the two precincts affected are dominated by independents and contain a fairly even number of Republicans and Democrats.

Instead, she piled on some more, broadening her attack to imply a dirty election all over Ohio.

“Ohio has a big election today,” she posted. “The tabulators aren’t working and people are being asked to put their ballots into bags to be scanned later. Hmm.”

What Lake didn’t say about that polling place

She didn’t later post the reporter’s update that the scanners were working by 1 p.m.

She didn’t post the follow-up, that human error, rather than the machines, caused the problem.

“These machines have not malfunctioned; this has only been happening because of poll workers struggling to learn the new equipment,” Summit County Deputy Director Pete Zeigler told the Akron Beacon Journal. “At no point was voting halted. They only swapped out machines as a precaution.”

Kari Lake helps Richer:Make his defamation case against her

Nor did she report election officials’ assurances that the few ballots affected — the ones placed in those orange bags as Republican and Democratic observers looked on — would ultimately be scanned and counted, just as Arizona elections officials testified they were scanned and counted last year in Maricopa County.

Strangely, she also never reported the proposition she endorsed lost not because of a temporary problem in one polling place, but because 57% of Ohio voters, when asked to limit their own power, said, “Oh, hell no.”

Sadly, her election smear will pay off

And the most galling part of all? This smear, like all of her smears, will pay off.

Lake is the darling of the MAGA movement, packing ‘em in as she barnstorms across the country in an obvious audition to become Donald Trump’s running mate.

This fall, she’s expected to announce that she’ll run for the U.S. Senate in Arizona next year. When she does, she’ll become an immediate shoe-in for the Republican nomination.

Outrage sells, after all, and if it requires the outright slander of a state or two to manufacture it?

Well, sorry, Buckeyes.

We in Arizona feel your pain.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @LaurieRoberts.

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