PHOENIXΒ β Federal judges will give Democrats one more chance to make their case that a ban on "ballot harvesting" is illegal.
In a brief order this afternoon, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the full court wants to review the issue.
Today's order comes a week after the majority of a three-judge panel of the court concluded the state was legally entitled to adopt legislation that makes it a crime for anyone to take someone else's ballot to the polling place. That law, approved earlier this year by the Republican-controlled legislature, has exceptions only for family members, those in the same household and certain caregivers.
The majority said the state has a legitimate interest in protecting the integrity of the voting process. And they said the fact there isn't a single instance of fraud from the practice is legally irrelevant.
Chief Justice Sidney Thomas, in his dissent, said there was no reason to remove an option for voting that is heavily used by minorities. Today's order essentially wipes out that 2-1 ruling against the challengers, giving them another shot at convincing the court that the ban is racially discriminatory.
Given that the election is Tuesday and the court did not schedule a hearing, it is likely the 11 judges will decide the issue based solely on the briefs.
The action comes as arguments are scheduled for Thursday in Phoenix on claims by Democrats that the Arizona Republican Party, the Trump campaign and their allies are planning to intimidate voters going to the polls on Tuesday. They want U.S. District Court Judge John Tucci to issue a restraining order to block things like ``aggressive questioning'' of those coming to vote.
Meanwhile, another federal judge in Phoenix is weighing a bid by Democrats to ensure that those who registered to vote on Oct. 11 should be allowed to cast a ballot this year. Secretary of State Michele Reagan is arguing that the court should enforce the Oct. 10 deadline even though that was both a federal and state holiday and some options to register to vote on that day were not available.
And a ruling is awaited from the same three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit that decided the ballot harvesting case, this one on the question of whether people who voted in the wrong precinct should have their ballots counted.
Arizona, unlike many other states, allows all voters to request that a ballot be mailed to them ahead of each election. Voters can fill it out and mail it back, take it to an early voting site ahead of Election Day or take it to any polling place on Election Day.
The other option until this year was to give it to someone else to return.
Both Republicans and Democrats have done such "ballot harvesting'' in prior years. But the Democrats and allied groups have been far more successful at going door-to-door, especially after it's too late to mail back a ballot, and collecting the ballots that may be sitting on a table waiting to be mailed.
During legislative debate earlier this year, proponents acknowledged there already are laws that make it a crime to tamper with anyone else's ballot or refuse to turn one in. Nor were they able to cite a single instance of fraud.
About the closest came from Sen. Don Shooter, R-Yuma, who said he had heard that some groups were collecting early ballots, steaming them open and then deciding based on what they found whether to submit them or toss them. There was never any proof of such an incident.
