The court’s expected reversal carries implications for challengers of new voting laws cropping up in other parts of the country.
A not-too-long line stretches outside a poll site in Arizona for the 2020 election. (Courthouse News photo / Brad Poole)
WASHINGTON (CN) Arizona will likely be allowed to enforce election laws found to suppress minority votes after oral arguments Tuesday where the Supreme Court appeared split on party lines.
The challenge comes at an already precarious time for the Voting Rights Act some eight years after the Supreme Court overturned one of the 1965 law’s requirements that said states with records of voter discrimination had to seek federal preclearance before changing their election procedures.
(Courthouse News photo / Brad Poole)
WASHINGTON (CN) The Department of Justice on Tuesday changed the federal government’s position in a case to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, focusing on the constitutionality of two Arizona election laws.
The court agreed this past October to hear the consolidated cases, set to be argued in March. Chief at issue are Arizona laws that prohibit voters from having non-family volunteers deliver their ballots and another law mandating the destruction of ballots cast in the wrong precinct both found to be unduly discriminatory to minorities by the Ninth Circuit.
U.S. Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler noted in a letter to the court Tuesday that the Trump administration had filed a brief in support of Arizona’s laws and its Attorney General Mark Brnovich. However, following a change in administration, the Justice Department had decided to take another look at their position.
A sign at the San Xavier Mission, a 17th century Catholic Church on the Tohono O’odham Nation in southern Arizona, warns people to wear face coverings and maintain physical distance. (Courthouse News photo / Brad Poole)
TUCSON, Ariz. (CN) With Covid-19 on the rise by virtually every metric, Arizona’s political and health care leaders are urging the public to hunker down for the holidays and skip gatherings with people outside their households.
“We know that’s a lot to ask this time of year, but the holidays will come again; sit this one out,” a group of health officials asked in a recent open letter. “Use the internet and telephones to communicate with family and friends.”