After failing to get an apology from Maricopa County GOP Chairman A.J. LaFaro for his characterization of their canvasser as a “a vulgar, disrespectful thug that has no respect for our laws,” Citizens for a Better Arizona is pushing ahead with a defamation lawsuit against the Republican.

LaFaro made waves on conservative websites last week after he released a surveillance video from the Maricopa County Elections Department purporting to show canvasser Ben Marin “stuffing the ballot box” by delivering early ballots to the elections office.

The video has received more than half-a-million views on Youtube and has been featured in nightly news as well as conservative websites.

In his account of the event, which happened the day before the primary election, LaFaro wrote that Marin was “stuffing the ballot” and told him, “Go f*** yourself, gringo.”

LaFaro also wrote that he would have followed him to the parking lot — except that he “feared for (his) life.”

In his filing with the Maricopa County Superior Court, attorney Alexander Kolodin, who has been retained by Citizens for a Better Arizona, wrote that “at no point during the encounter did Marin ever use vulgar or racist language. Nor did he at any point make threatening or obscene gestures.”

The lawsuit claims LaFaro acted with malice in calling Marin a “thug” and in claiming that get-out-the-vote groups like CBA take un-voted ballots and fill them out.

The lawsuit says those comments “tend to bring Ben into disrepute, contempt or ridicule and impeach his honesty, integrity, virtue or reputation” and they “imputed that Ben was guilty of crimes involving moral turpitude.”

The lawsuit also notes that death threats have been made against Marin as a result.

The suit also claims that LaFaro knew that it was completely legal for Marin to collect ballots from the community and return them to county elections officials.

Marin is seeking unspecified compensation for emotional distress, mental anguish and humiliation, while Citizens for a Better Arizona is seeking unspecified compensation and a retraction of LaFaro’s “false and misleading statements.”

LaFaro could not be reached for comment.

— Hank Stephenson & Luige del Puerto