A new ruling upholding Arizona election laws comes as state lawmakers just changed one of the reasons the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to leave those statutes in place.
In concluding the ban on ballot harvesting does not violate the Voting Rights Act, the court cited how easy it is for Arizonans to cast early ballots, Justice Samuel Alito pointed out that, among other things,”any voters may ask to be sent an early ballot automatically in future elections.’’ And, at the time the case was argued at the court in March, that was true.
But that was before the Republican-controlled Legislature adopted SB 1485.
That law by Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottsdale, spells out that if someone does not return an early ballot in at least one of four prior elections — meaning a primary and a general election in two successive years — the person is dropped from what until now had been called the “permanent early voting list.’’
They still could sign up again to get early ballots. They also would have to be notified before being removed from the list.
And they could still go directly to the polls on Election Day.
But it would entail an additional hurdle….