The Arizona Supreme Court has denied an emergency petition by voter rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Campaign Legal Center, that sought to extend the deadline for voters to “cure” their mail-in ballots. The request came in response to delays in vote counting and the notification of issues with voters’ ballots. Despite these setbacks, the court decided against extending the original 5 p.m. Sunday deadline, citing responses from multiple county recorders confirming that voters with inconsistent signatures had been notified, as reported by
Verde News.
According to a report by
FOX 10 Phoenix
, in rejecting the lawsuit, the Arizona Supreme Court stated, “It appears from the county recorders that all voters with inconsistent signatures have been notified of the need and opportunity to correct their ballots.” Nevertheless, the court’s response did not include information from Cochise, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, Mohave, Pinal, and Yavapai counties, leaving some ambiguity around the notification process in these areas. It’s worth noting that at the time of the petition, tens of thousands of Arizonans faced potential disenfranchisement due to unprocessed mail-in ballots and therefore, had not received notice of any need to correct ballot defects.
The ACLU and the Campaign Legal Center argued, as reported by
FOX 10 Phoenix
, “tens of thousands of Arizonans stand to be disenfranchised without any notice, let alone an opportunity to take action to ensure their ballots are counted.” They emphasized that over 250,000 mail-in ballots had not yet been verified by signature as of the Friday evening before the original deadline. This issue was most pronounced in Maricopa County, Arizona’s most populous county, where the bulk of the unverified mail-in ballots were located.
Despite this, Maricopa County Recorder’s Office spokesperson Taylor Kinnerup expressed confidence in the county’s process. He told
FOX 10 Phoenix
that the office had completed signature verification for the general election by the end of the day Friday, “giving voters with questioned signatures ample time to cure their signature.” The statement clarified that voters can check if their ballots need curing through an online resource, but it’s unclear how those without internet access or unaware of issues will be helped within the given timeframe.
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