5 Examples of Voter Suppression in the Arizona Primary

From US Uncut: 5 Examples of Voter Suppression in the Arizona Primary:

During last night’s primary, Arizona election officials showed America what textbook voter suppression looks like. While Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both won their respective primaries, the lingering questions of voter disenfranchisement will mar those victories.

Here are five examples of how Arizona voters were denied their voice last night:

1. Lines were so long people literally spent an entire work day waiting in line

In 2012, Maricopa County, which is the most populous county in Arizona, had over 200 polling locations open on primary day. In 2016, that number was reduced to just 60. This amounted to over 20,000 voters for every polling location, meaning voters had to stand in line for hours to cast their ballots.

2. Clear voter suppression in Latino neighborhoods

In Helen Purcell’s mad dash to consolidate polling locations across Maricopa County, she somehow forgot to have polling places open in densely-populated Latino communities on the day of the primary. This is a glaring oversight given that 40.8 percent of Phoenix’s 1.5 million residents are Latino. State Senator Martin Quezada told AZCentral.com that the lack of available polling locations for the Latino community was problematic.

3. Democrats mistakenly registered as independents, given provisional ballots

As Arizona voters were still waiting to cast their ballots, US Uncut reported on allegations that voters who had previously registered as Democrat were instead listed in the voter database as “independent” or “no party listed.” In Arizona’s closed primary system, independent voters are denied their voice by having to vote with a provisional ballot. But what voters classified as “independent” who cast provisional ballots don’t realize is that their ballots are never counted.

42-year-old Kelly Thornton, who worked as an Election Day Technician in Yavapai County voting center 5 on Tuesday, told US Uncut that roughly two thirds of voters who came to her precinct had been mistakenly identified as independent by the election software. All of those voters were subsequently forced to cast a provisional ballot.

4. Suspicious evacuations of county buildings at peak voting times

The office of the Pima County recorder, which oversees elections in the Tucson area, received warning of a suspicious package in an adjacent garage, and workers answering calls from polling places had to put everything on hold for nearly an hour. By the time workers returned to the phones, they had to bring in additional staff to help with the call load.

According to Tucson News Now, that wasn’t the only location that received a bomb threat on primary day:

Four locations in Tucson received bomb threats on Tuesday, so the building was evacuated as a precaution. At the time of the evacuation, the Pima County Recorder’s Office had been staffing a voter help line to answer questions about voter eligibility, polling locations and other voting-related issues.

5. Calling Arizona for Hillary Clinton while people were still in line