{"id":187068,"date":"2021-03-02T15:30:03","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T20:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=187068"},"modified":"2021-03-02T15:30:09","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T20:30:09","slug":"supreme-court-poised-to-reject-democratic-challenge-to-arizona-election-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-poised-to-reject-democratic-challenge-to-arizona-election-laws\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court Poised to Reject Democratic Challenge to Arizona Election Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsupreme-court-poised-to-reject-democratic-challenge-to-arizona-election-laws%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=187068&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/GettyImages-1058324500_736x514.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Supreme Court seemed likely to uphold a pair of disputed Arizona election laws on Tuesday, teeing up its biggest decision about race and voting rights since 2013.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">At issue are two election rules: one that disqualifies votes cast outside a polling place and another that limits the ability of third parties to turn in ballots for others, a practice known as &#8220;ballot harvesting.&#8221;<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Democratic challengers say both laws disproportionately affect minority voters in Arizona, like Native Americans in remote parts of the state who lack reliable mail service and easy access to polling places.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"posts-content__category-widget md:hidden -ml-4 -mr-4 my-8 px-4 py-6 bg-gray-100\">\n<h4 class=\"mt-0 text-red-600 font-medium font-sans uppercase\">Recent Stories in The Courts<\/h4>\n<ul class=\"list-none p-0\">\n<li class><a class=\"text-black block mb-3 pb-3 border-b border-white\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/courts\/supreme-court-poised-to-reject-democratic-challenge-to-arizona-election-laws\/\"><strong>Supreme Court Poised to Reject Democratic Challenge to Arizona Election Laws<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li class><a class=\"text-black block mb-3 pb-3 border-b border-white\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/courts\/judge-blocks-bidens-deportation-freeze\/\"><strong>Judge Blocks Biden&#8217;s Deportation Freeze<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li class><a class=\"text-black block mb-3 pb-3 border-b border-white\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/courts\/supreme-court-rejects-trump-bid-to-shield-financial-records\/\"><strong>Supreme Court Rejects Trump Bid To Shield Financial Records<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The case hinges on the justices\u2019 interpretation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which bans election practices that discriminate based on race. The justices debated the issue amid lingering fallout from the 2020 election and renewed Republican interest in ballot integrity measures, which Democrats view as a modern analogue to Jim Crow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The case is an unusual vehicle for the Democrats and allied activists behind Tuesday\u2019s legal fight. The two laws at issue are common in both blue and red states. And Arizona\u2019s election procedures are not especially strict. The state\u2019s no-excuse early voting period runs for 27 days, and its voter ID law does not include a photo requirement.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lawyers for Democrats conceded Tuesday that only a small number of votes are involved in the case.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A federal trial court and a three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Arizona and upheld its rules. But a seldom-used &#8220;super panel&#8221; of 11 Ninth Circuit judges struck down the precinct and ballot harvesting regulations in January 2020.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Voting Rights Act bans practices that leave minorities with &#8220;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice.&#8221; But<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">the Supreme Court hasn\u2019t said much about how Section 2 applies to election procedures.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The justices split over how much disparity between voter groups is tolerable, and whether Arizona\u2019s rules had a direct impact on election outcomes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Justice Amy Coney Barrett said the law ought to permit at least some disparities. She mentioned a lower court opinion that made that point by citing voter registration at the DMV. Black and Latino people are less likely to own cars than other groups, thus much less likely to visit the DMV. Given those racial differences, &#8220;motor voter&#8221; registration could be viewed as a racist practice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh sounded similar concerns. Justice Samuel Alito said that refusing to allow any difference in outcome &#8220;is going to make every voting rule vulnerable to attack under Section 2.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But lawyer Jessica Amunson, a critic of Arizona\u2019s practices, said careful focus on even small differences in outcome is important.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;In a democracy, we should actually want to ratchet up participation so that every eligible citizen who wants to vote can do so,&#8221; Amunson told the justices.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">All told, it seemed likely that the Court will uphold both of Arizona\u2019s rules. But their rationale for doing so remains unclear.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Section 2 took on added importance after the Court\u2019s 2013 decision in<\/span> <em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shelby County<\/span><\/em> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">v.<\/span> <em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Holder<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which ended the Justice Department scrutiny of election law changes in areas with a history of discrimination. After<\/span> <em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shelby County<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Section 2 became the focal point of voting-rights cases around the country.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whatever the meaning of Section 2, Arizona\u2019s laws are a surprising target because they are common and have a legitimate pedigree. Dissenting from the Ninth Circuit super panel decision, Judge Jay Bybee called Arizona\u2019s precinct rule &#8220;a standard feature of American democracy&#8221; that is in place in 26 states. About 10 states regulate ballot harvesting, Bybee added, and about 20 restrict the practice to some degree.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Very few minority voters were adversely affected by the precinct rule. In a back-and-forth with Justice Clarence Thomas, Amunson conceded the rule was in place for the 2020 election, when minority participation was robust. Less than 1 percent of minority voters were affected by the law. But what matters, she stressed, is that minorities were much more likely to have their ballots discarded than whites.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The unfriendly set of facts may explain why the Biden administration sat Tuesday\u2019s dispute out. The Trump administration filed legal papers backing Arizona\u2019s law in December 2020. Biden\u2019s Justice Department disavowed the Trump brief in a February letter to the High Court but declined to say that Arizona\u2019s procedures are unlawful. The DOJ did not file a new brief or participate in Tuesday\u2019s arguments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The case is No. 19-1257<\/span> <em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Brnovich<\/span><\/em> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">v.<\/span> <em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">DNC<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"my-8 hide-print\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1526555381173-4\" class=\"mobile-250 desktop-90\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Supreme Court seemed likely to uphold a pair of disputed Arizona election laws on Tuesday, teeing up its biggest decision about race and voting rights since 2013. At issue &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2274589,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/GettyImages-1058324500_736x514.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Supreme Court Poised to Reject Democratic Challenge to Arizona Election Laws","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-187068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/GettyImages-1058324500_736x514.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Supreme Court Poised to Reject Democratic Challenge to Arizona Election Laws","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2274589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}