Arizona judge smacks down right-wing group's bid to ban ballot drop boxes: report

A state judge in Arizona has rejected a lawsuit by a right-wing group seeking to remove the procedure for counties to install unstaffed ballot drop boxes, Democratic voting rights attorney Marc Elias reported on Thursday.

The lawsuit was brought by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, along with Mary Kay Ruwette, a retired HR specialist from Yavapai County who sued in her capacity as a voter.

"The lawsuit alleges that because using drop boxes to drop off mail-in ballots has not been authorized by the Arizona Legislature, it is an illegal method of voting under Arizona law," explained Democracy Docket, Elias' site keeping track of challenges to election law. "In addition, the plaintiffs argue that drop boxes 'lack crucial protections afforded to USPS mail collection boxes.' The plaintiffs request that the provisions of the EPM that allow for drop boxes be invalidated. The right-wing group also requests that the court block the enforcement and implementation of any provision of the EPM that authorizes the use of drop boxes in the state."

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"The plaintiffs contend that Arizona only provides four ways to return an early ballot: delivered or mailed to the county recorder or dropped off by the voter or for the voter (by a family member, household member or caregiver) at a polling place," the report continued.

A judge denied an injunction against the use of drop boxes last year. And on Thursday, the case, which was defended by Secretary Fontes, the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans, and Voto Latino, was dismissed on summary judgment.

This is not the first such failure this year by a right-wing group trying to challenge voter access in Arizona.

In February, America First Legal, the right-wing group founded by former Trump immigration adviser Stephen Miller, facilitated a lawsuit alleging that Maricopa County illegally disadvantaged white and indigenous voters by opening too many polling sites in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods. Just sixteen days after this suit was filed, it was withdrawn following an intervention by Elias' legal team.