PHOENIX — The Arizona Supreme Court on Sunday refused to extend the deadline for voters to fix problems with mail-in ballots after voter rights groups reported delays in counting ballots and notifying voters of signature problems.
The court said on Sunday that election officials in eight of the state’s 15 counties reported that all voters with “inconsistent signatures” were properly notified and given an opportunity to respond.
Arizona law calls for people who vote by mail to be notified of problems, such as a ballot signature that doesn’t match what’s on file, and to have a “reasonable” chance in a process called “cure.”
“The court has no information to establish that these individuals did not have the benefit of ‘reasonable efforts’ to cure their votes,” wrote Judge Bill Montgomery, who served as judge on the seven-member court. It has been stated that no region that has responded has requested an extension of time.
“In short, there is no evidence of disenfranchisement before the court,” the court’s order said.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Campaign Legal Center on Saturday named Maricopa County registrars including Stephen Richer in a petition seeking an emergency court order to extend the original 5 p.m. MST Sunday deadline to four days. Maricopa is the most populous county in the state and includes Phoenix.
The groups said as of Friday afternoon, more than 250,000 mail-in ballots had not yet been verified by signature, and most of them. Maricopa County. They argued that tens of thousands of Arizona voters could be disenfranchised.
Montgomery, Republican designated Former Gov. Doug Ducey told the state court in 2019 that the eight counties that responded — including Maricopa — “all affected voters” received at least one phone call “along with other messages via email, text or mail.”
However, he noted that the Navajo Nation informed the judge on Saturday that the list of Apache County tribal members who were required to heal their ballots was more than 182 people.
Maricopa County made the announcement early Sunday 202,000 votes not yet counted. This was reported by the Arizona Secretary of State More than 3 million they voted in the election.
