U.S. Supreme Court upholds Arizona voting law, ballot harvesting ban

By Thomas Catenacci

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a recent Arizona voting law that placed restrictions on absentee voting and ballot harvesting.

The high court upheld the Arizona law, ruling that states are able to pass laws that prevent voter fraud, according to the decision Thursday. Several voting rights groups had condemned the law, which they said would disenfranchise thousands of voters, NBC News reported.

“Arizona law generally makes it very easy to vote,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the court’s majority opinion.

“One strong and entirely legitimate state interest is the prevention of fraud,” he continued. “Fraud can affect the outcome of a close election, and fraudulent votes dilute the right of citizens to cast ballots that carry appropriate weight. Fraud can also undermine public confidence in the fairness of elections and the perceived legitimacy of the announced outcome.”

Alito said it was an important state interest that every vote cast in an election is cast freely and without intimidation.

Arizona Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who argued the case before the court, applauded the ruling on Wednesday. The decision is a “win for election integrity safeguards” nationwide, he said.

“Fair elections are the cornerstone of our republic, and they start with rational laws that protect both the right to vote and the accuracy of the results,” Brnovich said in a statement.

Conservative voting rights groups the Honest Elections Project and the Public Interest Legal Foundation also applauded the ruling. The groups said that it would lead to more secure elections in emailed statements.

Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed the voting legislation into law in May. He called the state a national leader in election integrity and voting rights after signing the bill.

The legislation eliminated citizens who haven’t voted by mail in two consecutive elections from the state’s “active early voting list,” Ducey said in his signing letter. The change doesn’t affect any voter’s registration and was designed to ensure that the state doesn’t waste resources sending ballots to individuals who don’t regularly vote by mail.

The law also banned ballot harvesting, the practice where volunteers affiliated with a specific political party or candidate collect mail-in ballots and hand deliver them to a polling place or dropbox. Alabama was the only state to prohibit anyone from delivering a ballot on behalf of another person during the 2020 election, accordingto Ballotpedia.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas and Amy Coney Barrett joined Alito. Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented.

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3 thoughts on “U.S. Supreme Court upholds Arizona voting law, ballot harvesting ban

  1. “The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a recent Arizona voting law that placed restrictions on absentee voting and ballot harvesting.”
    https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-1257_g204.pdf

    The court, in a 6-3 opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, ruled:

    1) Arizona’s revised election law was on solid ground to disallow votes cast in the wrong precinct, i.e., the revised Arizona election law required people to vote ONLY IN THEIR PRECINCT.

    Arizona law generally makes it very easy to vote. Voters may cast their ballots on election day,

    1) In person at a traditional precinct, or
    2) At a “voting center” in their county of residence

    Arizonans also may cast:

    1) An “early ballot” by mail up to 27 days before an election, and
    2) A vote in person at an early voting location in each county

    Arizonans, who vote in person on election day in a county that uses the precinct system, must vote in the precinct to which they are assigned, based on their VALID PHYSICAL address, i.e., not a PO Box, a warehouse, a parking lot, etc.

    If a voter votes in the wrong precinct, the vote is not counted.

    2) Arizona’s revised election law was on solid legal ground in enforcing rules that prohibit THIRD PARTIES from collecting mail-in ballots, aka BALLOT HARVESTING.

    For Arizonans, who vote early by mail, it a crime to knowingly collect an early ballot— either before or after it has been completed, by any person, other than:

    1) A postal worker
    2) An elections official
    3) A voter’s caregiver
    4) Family member
    5) Household member

    NOTE: Vermont election law, ENCOURAGES/ALLOWS ballot harvesting by THIRD PARTIES, such as the VPIRG. That law has become unconstitutional, per US Supreme Court ruling.

    I agree with the very reasonable/prudent SCOTUS opinion.

    NOTE:
    A wonder how SCOTUS would prevent:

    – Early ballot preparation in New York State,
    – Transport of those ballots to Pennsylvania, several weeks before the Election of 2020.
    https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/preperation-of-288-000-mail-in-ballots-in-bethpage-ny-for-use-in

  2. What’s concerning is that 3 voted against the State to have control over it’s voting laws, not the federal swamp… of coarse we know that rulings are never politically driven as Roberts told us so… but the 3 lefties Breyer Kagan and the Wide Latina all voted for the swamp to rule..again we are a Republic (of States) not a Democracy of mobs..

  3. Now that the stolen election is over and President Trump has been deposed. The Establishment Republican and the Supreme Court felt it was safe to act on this! Such cowardly Judases!

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