Clinton Claims Victory but Arizona's Voting Fiasco Dubbed "National Disgrace"

[Ferd Berfel]

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/03/23/clinton-claims-victory-arizonas-voting-fiasco-dubbed-national-disgrace


Shuttered polling places, endless lines, and widespread disenfranchisement—particularly for minority communities

Something was amiss in Arizona on Tuesday. As Hillary Clinton claimed victory in the state's Democratic primary, thousands of voters were left out to dry, with shuttered polling places, endless lines, and widespread reports of disenfranchisement.

In Maricopa County, which includes the capital Phoenix, voters waited up to five hours to cast a ballot after the County Elections Office slashed the number of polling sites from 200 in 2012 to just 60 this year. As the state's most populous county, this amounted to more than 20,000 voters for every available polling location.

Notably, many Latino areas were left with either just one or no polling places. Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell defended that decision, saying, "we looked at an area, and factored into that how many early ballots we usually get in that area and how many people normally vote at the polls. We didn’t look at it as legislative districts. We looked at the overall picture of our voters."

?itok=9xEdoWxj

[Cleita]

1. K&R

[FarPoint]

2. Take it up with the designated Board of Elections .....

Leave Hillary out of and Bernie because they are just the Candidates.

[yourpaljoey]

5. This looks like more of Hillary's dirty tricks to me

[FarPoint]

14. False claims and tricks are tools of HATE media.

I would not want to play their scheming ways. No evidence, thus a falsehood.

[Ferd Berfel]

7. Please, After everything we've seen so far?

[Aerows]

9. It isn't just Hillary and Bernie people that got screwed.

Republicans got screwed, too.

It is an example of epic incompetence by the AZ Sec of State, Michele Reagan.

It was a damn disaster from start to finish for everybody.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

10. we're taking it up with establishment. nt

[FarPoint]

12. Seems like a worthless effort then if one wants accountability.

Board of Elections are responsible.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

15. the seven term republican maricopa county recorder for instance...

The establishment

[FarPoint]

17. There ya have it...

The source of the disenfranchisement.

[ViseGrip]

3. Due to this, all provisionals should be tallied and included at once.

[yourpaljoey]

4. We all know what happened here... when will we put a stop to it?

[dr60omg]

6. It hurts to see this in Maricopa

And sorry but people waited to vote sometimes for the first time and they registered as Democrats to vote for Sanders you are not going to see them vote again ... thanks for helping demoralize voters and make them realize their votes are not wanted

[Uncle Joe]

8. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Ferd Berfel.

[Ferd Berfel]

13. always a pleasure Uncle Joe

[marions ghost]

11. National disgrace

absolutely.

What were people talking about in those lines for hours...

How much this all sucks I'm sure.

[Waiting For Everyman]

16. National disgrace, is right.

And undemocratic. This is cheating, and it's abusive.

That is not a win, it's a theft.

[bahrbearian]

18. Dupe

[pat_k]

19. I wouldn't think Clinton would want such a stain on her victory..

The right thing to do would be to call for the AZ SOS to enable "late voting." Nothing can "fix" what happened, but it's a reasonable "after the fact" remedy.

I''m also surprised at the number of people rationalizing the blatant suppression -- suppression that obviously disproportionately affected under 30's, and others, who tend to vote on election day in larger numbers. Anyone in the "election business" knew what the disproportionate consequences of making it so difficult to vote on election day would be. They can claim ignorance, but given what their jobs are, that would be absurd.

[ibegurpard]

21. a win is a win right?

That's our Hillary!

[FlatBaroque]

20. A National Disgrace

This is The Establishment at work, showing its very best efforts to continue the destruction of our democracy.

[MerryBlooms]

22. Similar to the lines in Florida in 2012.

It's only getting worse.