First State Times

As voting laws and integrity have become a huge focus in the U.S. after accusations of voter fraud in the 2020 Presidential election, Arizona has more freedom in its law while also having more integrity in comparison to states like Delaware.

In Delaware, the current voting laws have been called "draconian" by Republican Georgia State Rep. Wes Cantrell in a Facebook post. Delaware law will not allow early voting until 2022, The Atlantic reports. The current Delaware laws require voters to have a valid reason, like being disabled or ill, as to why they request an absentee ballot. 

The Atlantic reports that in a new Center for Election Innovation and Research analysis, Delaware, Connecticut and New York rank in the bottom third of states when it comes to accessibility to mail-in and early voting. 

“Democrats who have won election after election in states such as New York, Delaware, Connecticut, and Rhode Island have had little incentive to change the rules that helped them win,” The Atlantic reported. 

This is a stark contrast to Arizona voting laws, which allow for early voting and mail-voting.

According to the Arizona Clean Elections commission, Arizona allows for early in-person voting starting 27 days before an election and sends out absentee ballots 27 days before an election. Arizona also allows for "no excuse" absentee voting, meaning there is no excuse required to request an absentee, mail-in ballot.

In fact, Arizona allows for mail-in absentee ballots to be requested 120 days before an election, but no later than 11 days before an election, Vote 411 reported.

Another major contrast of voting laws in Arizona is that the state does not allow ballot harvesting, voting for felons, the reception of mail-in ballots after Election Day, automatic voter registration, or same-day voter registration, which is meant to protect the integrity of election voting for all. Arizona further requires voters are required to show photo ID or two forms of non-photo ID to case any ballot. 

An Honest Election Project poll found that 64% of voters,64% of voters, including Black (51%) and Hispanic (66%) voters, as well as urban (59%) and Independent (61%) voters, want to increase voting safeguards that mitigate fraud – not decrease them. According to the Honest Elections Project, 77% of voters, including 92% of Republicans, 75% of Independents, and 63% of Democrats support mandatory voter ID. 64% of Black voters, 77% of Hispanics, and 76% of low-income voters disagree with the idea that presenting a form of ID at the ballot-box is a “burden.”

Despite the contrast, 66% of voters overall did agree and support protection on absentee voting, including requiring ID, which supports Arizona's laws and disagrees with Delaware's laws.