Arizona Voter Supression

SUBHEAD: Allegations of voter suppression aimed at Sanders emerge from the Arizona Democratic primary.

By Michael Kreiger on 23 March 2016 for Liberty Blitzkrieg -
(http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2016/03/23/american-democracy-allegations-of-voter-suppression-emerge-from-the-arizona-primary/)


Image above: Debbie Wasserman Schultz (r.) campaigning for Hillary Clinton (l.) during 2008 presidential campaign. Schultz, the Democratic National Committee Chairwoman, may have handed Hillary the 2016 nomination. From (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3273404/Democratic-National-Committeewoman-says-party-clearing-path-Hillary-women-charge-want-way.html).

[IB Publisher's note: The Daily Mail says "Democratic National Committeewoman says her party is 'clearing a path' for Hillary because 'the women in charge' want it that way.]

The following is extremely disturbing. If I were a Bernie Sanders supporter in Arizona, I’d be absolutely apoplectic.

The AZCentral reports:

By a combination of misjudgment, misplaced priorities and old-fashioned voter suppression, Tuesday’s primary was a disaster.

As reported by The Arizona Republic’s Mary Jo Pitzl, Maricopa County reduced the number of polling places from more than the 200 available for the 2012 presidential election to … 60.

Sixty? Are you kidding me.

The fact that a voter could go to any polling place didn’t matter much when the lines were so long that many people were forced to abandon the line.

I’ve heard from a number of those who stood outside and waited, and waited, and waited.
And if that isn’t bad enough, Arizona law already effectively disenfranchises 36 percent of registered voters.

These would be voters who are unaffiliated with any political party. Independent. The only way those individuals can vote in a presidential primary is to re-register with a political party. And they have to do so 29 days before the election.

It’s ridiculous to think that 36 percent of Arizona voters — can’t vote.
They represent a constituency that is larger than the state’s Democrats.
They represent a constituency that is larger than the state’s Republicans.

It should be more and more clear to everyone that Arizona needs to institute an open primary system. Otherwise a plurality of Arizona voters is, essentially, permanently disenfranchised.

That’s bad enough, but it gets worse. After waiting in line for hours, some registered Democrats were then told they weren’t registered as Democrats and therefore couldn’t vote.

The  Phoenix New Times reports:

Polling places in Maricopa County were swamped with enthusiastic voters today, spurring gripes and a possible election complaint over party identification problems.
The state Democratic Party sent an e-mail to constituents asking them to send their election-day stories for a complaint that would be submitted to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office. Enrique Gutierrez, Arizona Democratic Party spokesman, said some Democrats waited in long lines — then were told they weren’t really Democrats when they tried to obtain a ballot.

“We’ve received complaints throughout the whole day of lifelong Democrats showing up to the polls and being told they are either independent or have no party affiliations,” Gutierrez said. No official election complaint will be submitted — yet, he says. But the party will continue to gather information. A message left for county Elections wasn’t immediately returned.

The Washington Post also covered the story:

All day Tuesday, voters in Maricopa County reported waiting in lines that stretched around the block, sometimes for hours. County officials told local news the long lines were in part to blame on independent voters showing up without realizing they couldn’t vote in Arizona’s closed Democratic and Republican primaries.

But at least one voter who contacted The Washington Post said she was turned away even though she’s a registered Democrat and that election officials blamed a computer glitch that rendered many Democrats as independents in the eyes of the system.

Somehow I don’t think this will encourage Bernie supporters to vote Hillary.

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