Are unstaffed ballot drop boxes allowed in Arizona? Final rulebook offers little clarity
Arizona voters have long relied on unstaffed ballot drop boxes to conveniently cast their ballots, but challenges to their use persist and a new state rulebook does little to clarify their legal status.
Secretary of State Adrian Fontes’ new Elections Procedures Manual, finalized Dec. 30, lays out the rules for high-profile aspects of the state’s elections, such as hand-counting ballots, delaying the certification of an election, and voter intimidation. But the new edition does less — not more — to assert the unstaffed drop boxes’ legality.
Ballot drop boxes are increasingly popular across the state, but since unproven claims of ballot harvesting at drop boxes began spreading in 2020, Republican lawmakers in Arizona have proposed either eliminating them altogether or enacting new laws aiming to make them more secure, such as requiring them to be staffed when open.
The prior manual, written by Gov. Katie Hobbs in 2019 when she was secretary of state, said that an “unstaffed drop box may be placed outdoors,” and “an unstaffed drop-box placed inside a building shall be secured.” The new manual changes those passages to say, “A drop box established and staffed by election officials may be placed outdoors” and “a drop-box established and staffed by election officials that is placed inside a building shall be secured.” A few other lines in that section imply that not all drop boxes will be staffed, but the manual no longer explicitly states that unstaffed drop boxes are allowed.
https://www.azmirror.com/2024/01/11/are-unstaffed-ballot-drop-boxes-allowed-in-arizona-final-rulebook-offers-little-clarity/