The Trump campaign and Republican National Committee joined a lawsuit filed by a conservative legal group against Maricopa County officials in Arizona on behalf of a woman who says her ballot was rejected because she was given a Sharpie-brand felt tip pen to fill it out.
The motion was filed Wednesday, according to Phoenix NBC network affiliate KPNX, to join the case filed by the Public Interest Legal Foundation for Laurie Aguilera.
The Arizona Democratic Party also joined the suit, permitted to intervene on behalf of the defendants, Maricopa County and its Board of Supervisors.
The issue erupted Tuesday during the election when several people posted to Twitter and other social media platforms that their ballots were rejected because of the use of the Sharpie. Maricopa County elections officials countered by posting that Sharpie felt tip markers were preferred because they used fast-drying ink and did not smudge.
Twitter blocked users from distributing the claims the Sharpies were causing the ballots to be rejected, a charge State Elections Director Sambo Dul called a "conspiracy theory" and dubbed it "Sharpiegate."
"These voters were denied the right to vote," Public Interest President and General Counsel J. Christian Adams said in a statement. "Arizona election officials allegedly were part of the problem, and denial of the right to vote should not occur because of failures in the process of casting a ballot. We are asking that all ballots that were uncured or denied be identified and allowed to be cured."
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