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A judge in Arizona denied a request from Republicans to bar the state from using “no excuse” mail-in voting in the midterm cycle.
Republican plaintiffs argued the state constitution described voting as taking place “at the polls,” not via mail, but Mohave County Superior Judge Lee Jantzen maintained nothing in the state constitution prohibited no-excuse mail-in voting, which allows voters to utilize an absentee ballot without giving a reason.
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“The laws are far from perfect and nobody anticipated thirty years ago that approximately 90 percent of Arizona voters would vote by mail-in ballot during a pandemic, but these laws are NOT in violation of the Arizona Constitution,” wrote Jantzen. “They are not inapposite of the intentions of the framers of the Constitution who emphasized the right to suffrage for Arizona citizens and that the voters’ ballots be secret.”
Since the early 1990s, the Grand Canyon State has permitted no-excuse mail-in voting, in contrast to some other states that require voters to have a valid reason such as medical conditions to be eligible. Arizona has one of the highest usages of mail-in ballots in the country, according to the Associated Press.
The state Republican Party, helmed by Chairwoman Kelli Ward, argued that the prevalence of mail-in voting flouted the state constitutional requirement for a secret ballot. Jantzen, who was appointed by then-Gov. Jan Brewer, noted that the laws have a number of safeguards in them and provisions that preserve secrecy. The plaintiffs can appeal the decision.
Jantzen noted the envelopes used in mail-in voting are designed to be “tamper-evident when properly sealed” and to ensure that the voters’ choices and political affiliation are not exposed in order to ensure secrecy.
A lawyer for the plaintiffs criticized the ruling, arguing it deprives voters of adequate election integrity protections.
“We are deeply concerned that if this ruling stands, Arizona’s most vulnerable voters will be deprived of the protections to which they are constitutionally entitled,” Alexander Kolodin, a lawyer for the Arizona Republican Party, told the Washington Examiner.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Arizona’s Republican Party had initially filed the case with the state Supreme Court earlier in the year, but the high court deferred to a lower court. The GOP moved its case to Mohave County, a conservative jurisdiction, where Jantzen tossed out the party’s case.
The judge also rejected an injunction to block most early voting for the midterm cycle. The lawsuit did not pursue changes to the primary election procedures.
