Maricopa County, Arizona, Incorrectly flagged around 2,000 longtime Registered Voters as needing to provide Proof-of-Citizenship, in order to Vote in Tuesday’s Election, County Officials Confirmed Sunday. That number is in addition to nearly 900 Pinal County Voters, who were Incorrectly told the same thing.
The Voters incorrectly asked for Information will No longer need to provide Proof-of-Citizenship before 7 p.m. Tuesday in order to cast Ballots in this Election, as some number of them were initially told, according to Officials in both Counties.
If Voters had already attempted to Vote an Early Ballot and had the Ballot put On-Hold or Voided, those Ballots will now be Counted. Voters who had Not yet Cast their Ballots should Not have an Issue when they go to Vote.
Maricopa County had moved the Voters to “not registered status,” which meant that they were No Longer on the Active Voter Rolls, according to Maricopa County Recorder’s Office Spokesperson Taylor Kinnerup.
If any of those Voters Cast an Early Ballot, it appears that the County initially Voided their Ballots. Officials have since worked to “restore any Ballots that were voided ... and those votes have since moved forward,” Kinnerup said.
Officials Restored the Voters’ Status on Oct. 21st, Kinnerup said. She did Not respond to a Question as to why the Office Changed Course.
Besides Maricopa and Pinal Counties, it’s unclear whether other Counties Incorrectly flagged Voters’ Registrations, and if any Voters will have trouble Voting Tuesday because of it. Coconino, Pima, and Yavapai, the Three other Counties that have so far responded to Inquiries, All said they did Not Incorrectly Flag Voters in their systems.
The Problem stems from Two recent Court Decisions related to Proof-of-Citizenship Requirements in the State.
The Voters who were Affected had tried to Update their Voter Registration just before the Oct. 7th, Voter Registration Deadline. The County had Flagged these Registrations because of Changes the County made to the way it was Processing Voter Registration Forms, in response to Two Separate Court Decisions, both regarding Requirements in State Law for Voter Proof-of-Citizenship.
Arizona has a Unique Law that requires Proof-of-Citizenship to Vote in State and Local Elections. Federal Law requires Applicants only to Attest to their Citizenship to Vote. If an Arizona Applicant doesn’t provide Proof-of-Citizenship, they are placed on a “Federal-Only” Voter List and are Restricted to Voting in Federal Contests like Presidential and Congressional Races.
Citizenship: It is time to Update the National Voting Rights Act (NVRA) for All Elections, with the definintion of Acceptable Documents when Registering to Vote.
In the First recent Court Decision related to the State’s Laws on Proof-of-Citizenship, the U.S. Supreme Court Ruled Aug. 22nd that County Recorders should completely Reject Voter Registration Forms from Voters, if they Register using a State Form and don’t provide Proof-of-Citizenship. Previously, these Voters would have been Registered as a Federal-Only Voter. The Ruling is in effect until the Courts can fully consider the Case.
The Second Court Decision came after the State realized that a Problem with the Motor Vehicle Division Database had allowed about 218,000 longtime Driver’s License Holders to become Full Ballot Voters, even though they had Not provided Proof-of-Citizenship. The Arizona Supreme Court Ruled Sept. 20th that these Voters would Not have to provide Citizenship Proof until after the November Election.
Still, starting sometime soon after the State discovered the MVD Problem, the State Reprogrammed its System to flag those 218,000 Voters if they tried to make a Change to their Voter Record, to Notify the Counties that they hadn’t yet provided Proof-of-Citizenship.
The Secretary of State’s Office provided Guidance in early October to County Recorders telling them that, even though the System was flagging these Voters, they should continue to allow them to Vote a Full Ballot until after November.
Instead, from the time the State’s System was Reprogrammed to the Voter Registration Deadline on Oct. 7th, if a Voter in Maricopa or Pinal Counties on this List of 218,000 tried to Update their Voter Record using a State Form, Maricopa and Pinal Counties Flagged their Registration until they provided Proof-of-Citizenship.
The Counties both Mailed at least some of these Residents a Letter to tell them they needed to provide Proof-of-Citizenship before they Voted.
“After further consideration, the decision was made to fully restore those voters from the not registered status, only if they were previously an existing, registered voter,” Kinnerup said on Sunday. “This means any Maricopa County voter impacted by the previously discovered MVD data oversight has since been restored back to their original status of either full or fed-only ballot for this upcoming election.”
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
No comments:
Post a Comment