Arizona S.B. 1260 Challenge

Lawsuit filed on behalf of Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans, Voto Latino, and Priorities USA against Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D), Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) and other elections officials challenging three provisions of Senate Bill 1260. Signed into law in June 2022, S.B. 1260 requires county recorders to cancel a voter’s registration if they receive confirmation that the voter is registered to vote in another Arizona county, creates a process to remove voters from the state’s permanent vote-by-mail list if the voter is registered in another county and makes it a felony to forward a mail-in ballot to a voter who may be registered in another state. The lawsuit argues that these provisions should be permanently blocked because, in total, they violate the First Amendment’s rights to free speech and association and the First and 14th Amendments’ protections against undue burdens on the right to vote. On Sept. 26, a federal judge temporarily blocked two provisions of S.B. 1260 temporarily halting the enforcement of the cancellation and felony provisions, meaning that these provisions will not be in place for the 2022 midterm elections. The removal provision was not blocked and remains in effect.

On Sept. 27, the the defendants appealed the preliminary injunction decision, but the appeal will continue beyond the midterm elections and the preliminary injunction will remain in effect for them.

STATUS: The preliminary injunction decision was appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The case is pending before the 9th Circuit.

Last updated: April 16, 2024 11:34 am EST