On the same day Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan announced that the number of registered voters has soared, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Arizona’s ban on “ballot harvesting.”
The voter rolls grew by 187,855 to nearly 3.6 million active voters. It was the largest report-to-report increase since the 2008 General Election which jumped 230,989.
Of the state’s 3,588,466 voters, 1,239,614 are Republicans, 1,091,323 are Democrats and 1,219,277 have not designated an officially recognized party preference. Libertarians and members of the Green party make up a little less than one percent of the state’s total registration.
Reagan chalked up the increase to an extremely high level of interest in this election.
“Now we shift gears to encourage people to return their early ballot or locate their polling place as soon as they can. Our dedicated election website Arizona.Vote has information on the candidates and ballot measures facing voters. Plus, they can verify when their ballot was received and counted. As always, early voters can avoid lines at the polls by simply returning their ballot the same way they received it by using the postage paid envelope and sending it back in the mail no later than November 1.
The court found that Arizona’s need to hold orderly elections was paramount and opponents of thr ballot harvesting ban did not prove that it would have an impact on minority voters.
“This case is not one in which ‘qualified voters might be turned away from the polls, rather, it is one in which voters are precluded from giving their ballots to third party ballot collectors and organizations must use an alternative means of mobilizing their voters,” found justices Carlos T. Bea and Sandra S. Ikuta.
This year, the Arizona State Legislature outlawed the predatory practice. The law prohibits anyone in Arizona — except family members, household members and caregivers — from delivering another person’s ballot to a polling place or election site. Arizona is now one of about 19 states to have outlawed ballot harvesting.
In August 2015, CASE (Central Arizonans for a Sustainable Economy) used youngsters to harvest ballots in Arizona heat.
Polls will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and if voters would like to drop off their early ballot in person, they can do so at any polling place in their county.
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