Wrecking our elections should cost a lot more

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa Julian pulled no punches in ordering former Republican secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem to pay financial sanctions for filing a frivolous lawsuit over his election loss.

But just when she had Finchem and his attorney on the ropes, Judge Julian failed to deliver a knockout blow.

The losing secretary of state candidate and his attorney, Daniel McCauley, were ordered by the judge to pay attorney fees to Adrian Fontes, who smoked Finchem by 120,000 votes, and to Gov. Katie Hobbs, who was secretary of state during the November 2022 election.

But that’s it.

The judge could have tacked on as much as $5,000 more, but didn’t. Five grand isn’t nearly enough, either. But it’s something.

The additional sanctions sure seem reasonable when you read the judge’s decision, where she says in part, “Here the preponderance of the evidence demonstrates the existence of bad faith in the filing of this election challenge. The evidence appended to Finchem’s own amended statement demonstrates that he pursued this contest in bad faith.”

Essentially, the judge decided that Finchem and his attorney knew going in that they didn’t have a case.

And they went ahead anyway.

The extra financial hit seems reasonable when you read that Finchem’s attorney actually seemed to believe the case was such a dog that he could lose his license over it, telling the court, “I mean, if I get into real trouble and get disbarred here, I’m 76 or 77 by the time they get to it.”

Think of all the misinformation and scare tactics and phony conspiracy peddling that has gone on since the election.

Think of the damage done to the confidence people have in our election system.

Finchem, like former President Donald Trump, and like losing candidate for Arizona governor Kari Lake, has used what Judge Julian called the “conscious decision to pursue the matter despite appreciating that the contest had no legal merit” in order to raise money from gullible individuals who fell for bogus claims of a stolen election.

In requesting sanctions, Fontes’ attorney, Craig Morgan, wrote, “This case is a politically motivated weaponization of the legal process meant to perpetuate the dangerous narrative that our elections are unreliable, our elected leaders are corrupt, and our democracy is broken — all because Mr. Finchem lost the election.”

Morgan was right.

Here’s hoping that the attorney fees

Finchem’s side must pay for this colossal waste of court time are substantial. Bloated.

Huge.

Here’s wishing the judge would have added even more to the price paid for trashing the democratic process.

Here’s wondering if the financial price exacted in this case will be nearly enough to stop the next political flimflam artist who comes along.