An Arizona state Republican Party-backed lawsuit that apparently sought the elimination of nearly all mail-in/absentee voting in the state has failed — for now. The Arizona state Supreme Court refused to take up the right-wing case; as explained by the voting rights organization Democracy Docket, the court “declined to grant jurisdiction over the lawsuit, holding that two claims could not be decided without a factual record developed in a lower trial court and one of the claims was brought against the wrong defendant.” In other words, as NBC recapped, the case — which was filed directly with the state Supreme Court — did not fulfill the specifications required for matters brought right to Arizona’s highest court. The state Supreme Court concluded, however, that those behind the case could refile it elsewhere.
Specifically, the Arizona Supreme Court said the case could be brought with Arizona’s Superior Court. The only avenue for absentee voting in Arizona that was specified by NBC as not covered by the Arizona GOP’s challenges was absentee voting for members of the military, which is required under federal law to be provided. With those responsible for the push claiming Arizona’s mail-in voting to be unconstitutional, NBC explains the “lawsuit asked the [state] justices to throw out all early voting procedures. If the justices are unwilling to go that far, the GOP asked the court to roll back the expansion of no-excuse absentee voting since 1991, eliminate ballot drop boxes, prohibit ballot counting before election day, or prohibit voting absentee on initiatives and referenda.” That’s simply a stunningly broad range of election procedures that were covered by Republicans’ lawsuit.
The treatment of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson by most Republican senators is beyond shameful.
— Dan Rather (@DanRather) April 4, 2022
As summarized by Democracy Docket, the case claimed “that the Arizona Constitution does not allow for any system of early voting, including absentee or mail-in voting, and therefore the state’s early voting statutes should be struck down.” One way or another, the Arizona GOP apparently wanted to undo the option for most voters in the state to cast ballots in ways other than in-person on Election Day. To even include early in-person voting in challenges over the conducting of elections is, again, simply stunning — are Republicans getting more bold? The Associated Press indicated in a Tuesday report that it wasn’t immediately clear whether state Republicans would actually re-file their challenge; spokespeople for the party and the right-wing lawyer whose firm was responsible for the original lawsuit didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment from NBC. The original legal challenge, of course, didn’t emerge in a vacuum — around the country, Republicans aligned with Trump have pushed the false notion that the election process is not secure. These claims have no merit.
The GOP loses again.😎https://t.co/TCXOqA5U9h
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) April 6, 2022
Another notable recent win for voting rights came in Florida, where a federal judge concluded that key portions of a sweeping elections law signed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis were unconstitutional. Specific measures covered by the judge’s findings include new restrictions on the usage of drop boxes for mail-in ballots, which were required in most cases to be available only when early in-person voting was also available — and were required to be supervised in-person.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has already been confirmed by the Senate on a bipartisan basis three times. This week, I will vote to confirm her a fourth time—to the Supreme Court. #ConfirmKBJ
— Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) April 6, 2022
