Arizona ‘Ballot Harvesting’ Ban Revived by U.S. Supreme Court

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated a Republican-backed Arizona law that makes it a crime to collect early ballots from voters and bring them to a polling place.

The justices granted a joint request from state officials and the Arizona Republican Party, intervening after a federal appeals court voted 6-5 on Friday to block enforcement of the law. The Supreme Court on Saturday blocked that ruling in a two-sentence order without explanation or public dissent.

The San Francisco-based appeals court said the Arizona measure would violate the Constitution and the U.S. Voting Rights Act by criminalizing one of the most popular and effective methods for Hispanics and Native Americans to vote. The majority rejected the state's contention that the law would help combat fraud by outlawing a practice known as “ballot harvesting.”

The practice had become increasingly popular in the state, particularly among people who either lack reliable mail service or have to use public transportation to vote in person. Those voters had been able to rely on organizations and campaign workers to transmit their ballot.

The dissenting appeals court judges faulted the majority for blocking the law so close to Election Day.

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Craig Gordon at cgordon39@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Steve Geimann