Photo courtesy of AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court voted 6-3 to uphold two voting laws in Arizona that banned “ballot harvesting” as well as an “out of precinct” policy, throwing out a ballot if it was not cast in the voter’s home precinct.
The majority opinion, delivered by Justice Samuel Alito, who was joined by the Court’s other conservative justices, said this was the first time the court has been called upon to apply Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. That federal law governs how ballots are collected and counted.
“Arizona law generally makes it very easy to vote,” Alito wrote. “All voters may vote by mail or in person for nearly a month before election day, but Arizona imposes two restrictions that are claimed to be unlawful.
“First, in some counties, voters who choose to cast a ballot in person on election day must vote in their own precincts or else their ballots will not be counted.
“Second, mail-in ballots cannot be collected by anyone other than an election official, a mail carrier, or a voter’s family member, household member, or caregiver.”
This story is breaking and will be updated.
Utah’s Morning News will have a live breakdown of this decision at 8:20 with Utah State University Political Science Professor Damon Cann.
Watch below.