In Arizona, Elias is stepping in to defend a terrible mail ballot signature scheme implemented by then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. Arizona election law specifically states that election administrators must use a voter registration signature to confirm the identity of those returning mail ballots.
Hobbs’ instructions violate state law by allowing the stockpiling of signatures from unauthorized and potentially unreliable sources. The more signatures the state collects—especially from unreliable sources—the more likely someone can impersonate a voter.
RITE filed its lawsuit on March 3rd. Just ten days later, Elias filed a motion to intervene.
- Without a correction, Arizona’s mail-in ballots will become increasingly less secure. Signature matching is the state’s only way of confirming the identity of individuals who vote by mail. If Hobbs’s effort to dilute signature matching succeeds, it will be even more difficult for Arizonans to have the confidence they need in the integrity of mail-in balloting.