On Sunday, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled against extending the deadline for voters to resolve issues with mail-in ballots. A day earlier, voting rights organizations had requested an extension of the deadline for mailing votes due to delays in counting and notifying voters of signature discrepancies.
The court stated on Sunday that election officials in 8 out of the state’s 15 counties reported that all voters with “signature inconsistencies” had been properly notified and given an opportunity to respond.
According to Arizona law, individuals voting by mail receive notification if there are discrepancies in their signature on the ballot compared to their file signature, and are given a “reasonable” opportunity to correct this through a process called “curing”.
Bill Montgomery, who served as the duty judge on the seven-judge panel, wrote, “The court has no information to suggest that any such individual did not receive ‘reasonable efforts’ to cure their ballot.” He noted that the responding counties did not request an extension of time.
The court’s ruling stated, “In sum, the court found no evidence of disenfranchisement.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) had filed a petition on Saturday targeting the Maricopa County recorder, including Stephen Richer, requesting an emergency order to extend the deadline by up to 4 days from the original deadline of 5 p.m. MST on Sunday.
Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, has the highest population in the state.
These organizations pointed out that as of Friday night, over 250,000 mail-in ballots were still awaiting signature verification, with the majority coming from Maricopa County. They believe that tens of thousands of voters in Arizona may have been disenfranchised as a result.
Judge Montgomery, a Republican, was appointed as a state high court judge by former Republican Governor Doug Ducey in 2019. He stated that eight counties, including Maricopa, confirmed that “all impacted voters” had been contacted via at least one phone call, as well as other forms of communication such as email, text messages, or mail.
However, the Navajo Nation informed the court that over 182 tribal members in Apache County needed to submit their ballots on Saturday.
Earlier on Sunday, Maricopa County reported that approximately 202,000 ballots were yet to be counted. The Arizona Secretary of State reported that over 3 million votes were cast in the election.
(This article was based on reporting from the Associated Press)