Effort to ban ballot drop boxes fails in Arizona Senate

(KYMA, KECY/ AP News) - An effort by some Arizona Senate Republicans to ban the use of ballot drop boxes has failed.

The original House measure would have completely banned unmonitored drop boxes, but it did not have the votes to pass so it was watered down to allow counties to set up video monitoring where practical.

Scottsdale Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita’s efforts to change the proposal requiring drop boxes to have video monitoring was blocked by fellow GOP Senators who knew House Republicans weren’t on board with the harsher proposal. 

Ugenti-Rita said drop boxes are rife with possibilities for “ballot harvesting,” pointing to the recent documentary "2,000 Mules" that alleged thousands of ballots were illegally cast in 2020 battleground states.