Republican State AGs Challenge Arizona Ruling on Ballot Signatures

(Bloomberg) -- A federal judge was accused by a group of 20 Republican state attorneys general of “overreach” for ruling that Arizona voters who forget to sign their absentee ballots should get up to five days after the election to fix the error.

The states late Thursday filed a joint brief supporting Arizona’s appeal of a Sept. 10 decision by U.S. District Judge Douglas Rayes in Phoenix, arguing the ruling encroaches on the right of states to run their own elections.

“The Framers did not give federal courts a mandate to micromanage state election laws,” the states, led by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, said in the filing. “And the district court’s overreach here is all the worse, as it occurred just weeks before Election Day.”

The appeal comes as Democrats and Republicans are clashing in courts across the U.S. over rules for absentee ballots, particularly the deadline for counting mail-in ballots that arrive after Nov. 3.

The Arizona ruling was a victory for the Democratic National Committee and other groups that sued in June to give voters in the state more time to sign their ballots if they forget. Due to the pandemic, many Americans will be voting by mail for the first time. Arizona already gives voters up to five days after the election to fix signature errors, and Democrats argued the same opportunity should be given to those who forgot to sign.

The federal appeals court in San Francisco hasn’t yet set a hearing on Arizona’s emergency request to stay the decision during the appeal. Arizona said in its initial filing with the court that the burden of requiring voters to fix their missing signatures before Election Day “is about as low as they come.”

“And for approximately 99.9% of Arizona voters, that presents no apparent issue,” the state said.

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