Are undocumented immigrants recruited to harvest ballots in swing states like Arizona?

Ballot harvesting, or collecting completed ballots on behalf of other voters and delivering them to official election sites, is only legal in Arizona if the collector is a family member, household member or caregiver of the voter. 

There is no evidence to indicate undocumented immigrants are being recruited to illegally collect and drop off ballots in any U.S. states. An undocumented immigrant risks a felony conviction, deportation and U.S. citizenship eligibility if they collect and turn in the ballot of a non-household or family member, or someone for whom they are not a caretaker. 

Other “swing states,” or politically contested states this election cycle, include Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. In these states, ballot collection laws are similarly strict or even more so — in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, for example, only the voter may submit their ballot. 

This fact brief responds to conversations such as this one.   

The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs, or quick-response fact checks, about trending claims relating to Arizona.