The Arizona Republic, long a conservative and Republican-oriented paper, says it doesn’t believe the Maricopa County election officials intended to suppress turnout today in Phoenix and its suburbs. It says that despite the idiots running the primary election cutting polling places in the county from 200 last time to 60 this time. It did have some questions:
“Disenfranchised” was a flash word on Tuesday. Many voters used it.
We heard from a lot of hearty souls who stayed in line to participate in this election. But how many more just gave up and left the polls without casting a vote?
How many of them are likely to skip the next election?
Those are just some of the questions we’d like to ask county officials.
More specifically we demand to know:
* What calculation led to this massive misjudgment in polling places?
* Why did you make such drastic reductions in polling places when you might have reduced them gradually?
* Why weren’t you providing more answers on Tuesday when the public was furiously demanding answers?
* Why did you not account for parking problems created by fewer polling places?
And finally:
* What changes will you make now to ensure this doesn’t happen in November or ever after?
Anticipate these questions. Not because the media will be asking them, as we surely will. But because a mass of angry voters is ready to beat down your door.
As I said, the Republic has always been a GOP-leaning paper, so it’s not inclined to blame the party for taking measures which lower voter turnout. I have no such leanings. I think this may have been a dry run for November, to see what they could get away with in a general election. I note that a voter has to present one or two of several documents to prove eligibility. I also note that some people waited in line today as long as three hours before they gave up. Further, some Latino neighborhoods had only one polling place.
South 100 miles in Pima County in the usually-Democratic city of Tucson there were 130 sites for one-quarter as many voters as went to the polls in Maricopa County.
Deliberate screwup or inept election officials? I know what I think.