An explanation for what happened in Maricops Cty AZ on election day....

[riversedge]

This article was publish lat Tues. eveing

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/03/utah-arizona-idaho-samoa/474783/

10:23 PM Yoni Appelbaum

........

There’s been a split in state-level approaches to elections in recent years, with many states enforcing voter-ID laws and other measures that tend to depress turnout, while early voting, absentee voting, mail-in balloting, and other measures to expand access have also become more popular. In Arizona, a huge number of voters took advantage of the chance to vote early—roughly 40 percent of all eligible voters in Maricopa County, for example, returned early ballots.

As a result, the Maricopa County Recorder’s office opened just 60 polling places, instead of the more than 200 it operated four years ago. But the surge of interest resulted in unexpectedly long lines, extreme waits, and reports of some locations temporarily running short of ballots......

[Iliyah]

1. Yep

[dogman]

2. Voter suppression is nothing new.

Sure doesn't explain all the registration issues.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. that was apparently because they hired some corporation

That totally screwed up the registration rolls.

[dogman]

4. Corporate malfeasence.

Once again benefiting the corporate establishment. Still nothing new.

[bobbobbins01]

5. What in the world were they thinking?

And that was just a republican primary...they had to know they'd have more voters just on the fact that democrats were voting as well...the incompetence boggles the mind. Someone should lose their job over this at the very least.

[kristopher]

9. Here is Maricopa Recorder explaining it to a reporter - :)

[marions ghost]

6. Read mah lips

There IS NO EXCUSE for what happened in Arizona

You are not helping your cause here. This is NOT what Democracy looks like.

ANYTIME you have THIS many voters who came to the polls expecting to vote, and the election officials come up with lame responses like, we just weren't ready or ran out of ballots (after the degree of interest was clearly known) .............
HOUSTON we have a problem



Arizona was just prepping for the GE. They don't want those of Democratic persuasion to vote, especially the young ones and the ones of a different ethnicity.

And yet you support this?!

[riversedge]

10. No need for the nasty lecture. I believe there is some voter suppression in

AZ--caused primarily by Republican laws and policy put in place. I do not know what you mean by my 'cause' and I do not need to be lectured by you on voter suppression. I live in a red state where our GOV and Republicans have cut voting hours. cut days that voter motor vehicle departs are open across the stay, etc etc.

And looks like some local incompetence has contributed to it--in AZ.

[marions ghost]

11. OK

Don't take it personally -- I mean to speak in general terms.

There seems to be MUCH voter suppression in AZ. Since I come from a state where this is widespread also, it touches a nerve.

[riversedge]

12. Yes, it does touch a nerve for many. It is being investigated and lets

hope something good will come out of this.

But like so many Red states--until and only if some of the voter suppression laws are reversed, there will be voter suppression. Depressing.

[marions ghost]

13. Yes I find it very depressing

We just never can trust any election.

Those laws must be reinstated. This shows exactly why.

[MoonRiver]

7. But when some people don't get their way,

they reach for the

[pat_k]

8. Asinine

60% of voters yet to vote. A majority of them under 30.

Only 7% of early voters were under 30, with 41% over 65.

It wasn't just happenstance that the the early vote massively favored Hillary. The demographics were known. The votes of the demographics who tend to vote on election day were massively suppressed by inaccessibility.. And the disproportionate consequences of the decision to make it extremely difficult to vote on election day were also known.

There is no denying that anyone in the "election business." would understand the effect. They can claim ignorance, but given their responsibilities, that would be absurd

Of course, even if the effect had been perfectly divided across all demographics, it still constitutes voter suppression.

I hope that a court orders AZ to reopen polls, and clean up their lists, to give every eligible voter a fair opportunity to cast their votes and have those votes counted. Nothing will "fix" this, but that's a reasonable "after the fact" remedy.

There is certainly precedent.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/3/18/1503536/-IL-County-Attny-on-New-Court-Order-Mandating-Late-Voting-Next-Week-in-Adams-BradCast-3-18-2016