Supreme Court allows Arizona to enforce law banning 'ballot harvesting'
The U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday reinstated Arizona’s “ballot harvesting” law that bars most third parties from collecting early ballots.
The order stayed a decision by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that had blocked enforcement of the law, report the New York Times, SCOTUSblog, BuzzFeed News and the Los Angeles Times.
The law bars collection of early voting ballots from third parties, with the exception of election officials, mail carriers, family members and caregivers.
BuzzFeed sees the Supreme Court’s action as indicating “that it doesn’t want lower courts messing with election laws before Tuesday’s election.” According to the New York Times, the Supreme Court “often views last-minute changes to election procedures with disfavor.”
Democrats who challenged the law had claimed it burdened the right to vote and had a disproportionate effect on minority voters.
