DOJ Probes Possible Voter Suppression In Arizona

[Uncle Joe]

Federal investigators asked Maricopa County about the decision to reduce its number of polling stations.

Federal officials want to know why Maricopa County, Ariz. election authorities decreased its number of polling stations, causing chaos during the presidential primary in March, Talking Points Memo reports.

A spokesperson for County Recorder Helen Purcell confirmed to TPM that her office received a letter on Friday from the Department of Justice. It requests data underpinning the county’s decision to set up just 60 vote centers—a two-thirds reduction, according to the news site.

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, a Democrat, urged Attorney General Loretta Lynch to launch the probe, stating that there may have been disparities in deciding where to place the polling stations.

Arizona’s presidential primary was plagued by long lines, causing some people to wait up to five hours to vote. And scores of voters were incorrectly registered.

(snip)

Others think there could be something more nefarious at play. According to CNN, U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who represents parts of Phoenix, called for an independent investigation after the primary election.

“Let’s be clear—voter suppression happened on March 22. We don’t know at this point if it was by chance or by planning, but no matter what, there’s nothing we can do to deny that voter suppression happened,” Gallego said.

(snip)

http://newsone.com/3402363/doj-probes-possible-voter-suppression-in-arizona/

[Uncle Joe]

1. DOJ looking into voter suppression claims in Arizona

Washington (CNN)The Department of Justice is requesting additional information from an Arizona election official after lawmakers and activists alleged voter suppression during the Arizona presidential primary last month.

Democratic lawmakers have claimed there were some working-class and primarily Latino neighborhoods that had no polling places.
Chris Herren, chief of the Justice Department's Voting Section, sent a letter to Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell after voters complained of waiting for hours to vote due to an insufficient number of polling stations.

(snip)

Justice Department officials have requested that Purcell send them information by April 22 on various information, including a complete list of registered voters, data on voters and staff at each polling place location and county procedures for recording political party registration.

(snip)

Even after waiting in line for hours, some people were not allowed to vote. At least 20 Democratic voters contacted the Arizona Democratic Party to say that when they arrived at the polls, they were told that they were registered as independents and therefore unable to vote in the closed primary.

(snip)

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who lost Arizona to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, called the situation "a disgrace" soon after the primary.

"In the United States of America, democracy is the foundation of our way of life," the Democratic presidential hopeful previously said. "And what happened in Arizona is a disgrace. I hope that every state in this country learns from that and learns how to put together a proper election where people can come in and vote in a timely manner and go back to work."


http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/05/politics/justice-department-investigation-arizona/index.html

[daleanime]

2. We have got so much work to do....

[Uncle Joe]

3. Much work does need to be done, daleanime.