Arizona Supreme Court declines ACLU’s request to extend ballot curing deadline

SUMMARY

The Arizona Supreme Court has rejected the ACLU’s request to extend the ballot curing deadline for voters to address issues with mail-in ballots. The ACLU, alongside the Campaign Legal Center, argued that thousands of ballots might not be processed in time, potentially leading some voters to miss the chance to rectify ballot issues by the Sunday 5 p.m. MST deadline. The court, however, found no evidence of disenfranchisement, noting that all responding counties reported making reasonable efforts to contact voters with signature discrepancies through phone calls, emails, texts, or mail. No counties requested an extension, and the Republican National Committee and Arizona State Senate President Warren Petersen filed briefs opposing the extension. Harmeet Dhillon, representing the RNC, commented that the court’s decision concluded the ballot curing process. According to the Arizona Secretary of State’s office, over 67,000 early ballots were still pending processing.