GOP Defeated – Judge Makes Damning Ruling Before Elections
(UnitedVoice.com) – Mail-in voting became a wedge issue during the 2020 election. In the months after, states that had embraced it before, like Florida, began restricting it. Arizona Conservatives tried to end no-excuse mail-in voting, but a judge rejected their attempts.
On June 6, Mohave County Superior Judge Lee Jantzen denied Republicans’ request to ban voting by mail during the midterms. Conservatives argued the Arizona Constitution requires voting in person at specified polling places, not through the mail. The judge disagreed, saying there was nothing in the Constitution prohibiting the method of voting or requiring justification for a choice of method.
A judge in Arizona denied a request from Republicans to bar the state from using "no excuse" mail-in voting in the midterm cycle.https://t.co/CZlPVDCFI3
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) June 7, 2022
The state Republican Party also argued voting by mail violated the constitutional requirement to keep ballots secret. Judge Jantzen said the envelope design keeps the voters’ ballot choices secret. The judge also pointed out the envelopes’ design is “tamper-evident when properly sealed.”
In the ruling, Jantzen stated that laws aren’t foolproof, and state officials couldn’t have predicted that 90% of Arizonans would vote by mail during a pandemic. Still, he said the laws don’t violate the state’s Constitution.
Arizona has allowed voting by mail without divulging reasons since the 1990s. As a result, Arizona has one of the highest rates of mail-in voting in the country. There were no issues with the process in the previous elections.
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