An Arizona election re-vote? Tell it to a judge

• Democrat Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign is weighing a challenge to the election.
• State law provides for anyone who is a registered voter to file an "election contest."

We voted once and it didn't go so well. So why not try it again?

A revote of last week's presidential preference election has been bandied about by would-be voters upset by the outcome: long lines, hard-to-find parking and confused voter registration.

Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo told the House Elections Committee on Monday that the Legislature should seriously consider a revote.

But it wouldn't be so simple, election attorneys say. And given the supervisors' 4-1 vote Wednesday to approve the canvass of the March 22 presidential preference election results, Gallardo's hope for an extra day of voting for disenfranchised Maricopa County voters seems remote.

Once the canvass, which certifies an election's results, is done, "that ship has sailed," said attorney Kory Langhofer.

That means the only viable recourse is a lawsuit, said Langhofer and attorney Jim Barton. Both men have worked in election law for candidates on opposite sides of the political aisle.

"There's nothing in statute that lets an election official call an election invalid," Barton said.

Democrat Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign is weighing a challenge to the election, arguing Sanders could have gained more delegates if the polls had been able to accommodate all the people who showed up. Many were discouraged by long lines or compelled to leave due to work obligations.

That decision would probably follow the secretary of state's official canvass, scheduled to happen Monday, campaign attorney Chris Sautter told The Arizona Republic after the county canvass.

State law provides for anyone who is a registered voter to file an "election contest," but it must be done within five days of the statewide canvass, said state Elections Director Eric Spencer.

Langhofer said for a candidate to convince a judge to re-run the election, he or she would have to prove it would change the outcome. Hillary Clinton bested Sanders 57 percent to 41 percent in the Democratic contest, while on the GOP side Donald Trump finished 19 points ahead of Ted Cruz.

But because Arizona's Democratic election results allot delegates on a proportional basis, Sanders could pick up a few more, his camp argues. Republican rules allocate all of the delegates to the winner, in this case, Trump.

Barton, who is the attorney for the state Democratic Party, said a lawsuit that invokes Voting Rights Act violations is another possibility. But, he said, "I think we're nowhere close to that in this case." That's because in cases where elections have had a do-over, there has been evidence of overt racial bias, something that might be hard to demonstrate given long lines at polling places countywide.

"You never know, but it's hard to see this as the hallmark of these very extraordinary cases (of bias) where you see a revote," Barton said.

Lawmakers who sat through Monday's three-hour hearing said they were unclear on how a revote would happen, but both Democrats and Republicans said they would be open to the idea if the logistics were possible.

Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter @maryjpitzl.