In March, RITE sued Democratic Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes arguing his office's Elections Procedures Manual violates the law regarding the mail-in ballot signature verification process.

"While state law requires county recorders to match mail-ballot signatures with signatures in the voter's 'registration record,' the Secretary instructed them to use a broader and less reliable universe of comparison signatures," the group said in a Monday news release.

"That means the Secretary was requiring ballots to be counted despite using a signature that did not match anything in the voter's registration record. This was a clear violation of state law," RITE asserted.

In a Friday ruling rejecting a motion to dismiss the case filed by Fontes and the group Mi Familia Vota, Yavapai County Superior Court Judge John Napper agreed with RITE's conclusion concerning the law.

The court said that the "statute is clear and unambiguous" requiring "the recorder to review the voter's registration card" and not other documents with the voter's signature.

Napper further noted, "There is no ambiguity in the statute or process."

Further, the secretary's signature-match process in the Elections Procedures Manual unlawfully "contradicts the plain language" of Arizona state law by permitting signature comparison with documents that have "nothing to do with the act of registering."

Derek Lyons, president and CEO of RITE, responded court's ruling, saying in a news release, "RITE will build on this victory to continue to fight in court for elections that are administered according to democratically enacted laws, not illegal partisan commands."