By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services
The Arizona Republican Party is trying to kill the method of voting preferred by more than 80% of state residents.
Legal papers filed Friday ask the Arizona Supreme Court to conclude that there is nothing in the state constitution to allow for early voting. Attorney Alexander Kolodin told Capitol Media Services the only form of voting specifically authorized by the framers of the constitution is in person and on Election Day.
What that means, he said, is that anything else — including the current system of no-excuse early ballots created by the legislature in 1991 — is illegal.
If the justices don’t buy that argument, Kolodin has an alternate legal theory. He argues that, at the very least, the state is required to return to the way the situation was prior to 1991.
That still allowed people to get early ballots, but only if they provided some proof they needed it, like being away from their voting precinct on Election Day or a physical disability. And Kolodin said that, at least, would provide more security over early ballots than the current system.
Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, who is named as defendant in the lawsuit, called the move a “ridiculous attempt to undermine our elections.”
“This lawsuit filed by the Republican Party of Arizona has a single aim: to make it more difficult to vote,” said Hobbs, who is running for governor, in a prepared statement.
