SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Thursday announced she was supporting an appeal by the Arizona Attorney General before the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a federal court’s ruling that found some Arizona voting laws disadvantaged minority voters.
The governor’s move allows her to wade into the national hot-button issue of election security. She has courted a national profile among conservatives this year and is considered by some to be a potential GOP presidential nominee in 2024.
The case stems from a 2016 lawsuit brought by the Democratic National Committee against Arizona, stating that two of its election laws violated the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination in the election process. A federal court eventually struck down the Arizona laws, which required election officials to throw out ballots cast at the wrong precinct and made it illegal for campaigns or community groups to collect ballots for delivery to polling places, a practice that critics call “ballot-harvesting.”
A federal court ruled in January that those laws had a disproportionate impact on minority voters, but Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich appealed that ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. He argues the laws are reasonable and protect against election fraud.
“The 2020 election has shaken the American people’s faith in the integrity of the electoral process,” Noem said in a statement.
She explained that even though Arizona’s laws are different than her state’s, the case protects the ability for states to shape election laws. Both Arizona and South Dakota have long-faced complaints from Native American groups that their election processes make it more difficult for tribal members to vote.
Noem appeared to acknowledge Democrat Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election in a budget address earlier this week, saying that she has concerns about his administration.
Her spokesman, Ian Fury, said she was discussing the potential of Biden becoming president and has not accepted that Trump lost the election.
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This story has been corrected to show that the name of the organization that sued Arizona was the Democratic National Committee, not the Democratic National Convention.
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