Ban on 'ballot harvesting' in Arizona upheld by judge; Democrats vow to appeal

Returning another person's early ballot to the polls will remain a crime in Arizona after a U.S. District Court judge upheld the state's "ballot harvesting" law in a ruling Tuesday.

State lawmakers passed that law in 2016, saying it was needed to protect against fraud.

Republicans in the Arizona Legislature claimed ballot collectors were "harvesting" the ballots by opening them or otherwise divining how they were marked, and tossing the ones that did not align with the collector's political views.

But the law's opponents say barring the practice disproportionately harms minority voters, especially Native Americans and Latinos in rural areas, who live far from polling places.

Democrats had filed the lawsuit

The Arizona Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee sued state officials, arguing the law is unconstitutional and discriminatory because it's intended to suppress minority voters.

In a ruling Tuesday, District Court Judge Douglas Rayes found that Democrats failed to show the GOP-dominated Legislature passed the law with the intent to suppress minorities.

He concluded that instead "some individual legislators and proponents were motivated in part by partisan interests."

Reyes wrote, "But partisan motives are not necessarily racial in nature, even though racially polarized voting can sometimes blur the lines.

"That some legislators and proponents harbored partisan interests, rather than racially discriminatory motives, is consistent with Arizona’s history of advancing partisan objectives with the unintended consequence of ignoring minority interests."

Rayes stated that while the Legislature was "motivated by a misinformed belief" that fraud was occurring, they were also motivated by a sincere belief that mail-in ballot lacked safeguards intended to stop fraud.

He also upheld Arizona's practice of not counting the ballots of voters who cast provisional ballots in the wrong precinct, which Democrats had challenged.

Reagan: Case will go to U.S. Supreme Court

Secretary of State Michele Reagan, a Republican and the state's top elections official, cheered the ruling in a statement Wednesday. But, she predicted, the case will be appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"I think most people agree that Arizona should make it easy to vote and hard to cheat," Reagan said. "This time, the court agreed and I’m hopeful we will continue to be successful as the case continues its journey towards a date with the highest court in the land."

Democrats plan to continue fighting the law, which could affect voter outcome in races this fall. They plan to take the case to the federal court of appeals.

"Our democracy is founded on the principle that every voter and every vote counts," DNC spokesman Michael Tyler said in a statement. "Voter suppression efforts like this are a Republican staple.

"The DNC will appeal this ruling immediately so that Arizona voters can have protections in place for the upcoming 2018 elections."

The law makes it a felony for anyone to take another voter's ballot to the polls. There are exceptions for members of the same household, caregivers, postal workers and family members.

Republic reporter Mary Jo Pitzl contributed to this article.

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