New Phoenix Election Chief Says 'Nearly 91,000' Citizens Left Off Voter Rolls

[L. Coyote]

http://bradblog.com/?p=12134

.... Last November, the Democratic former prosecutor unseated Pheonix' previous election chief, Republican Helen Purcell, who had served in the post unopposed for 30 years. He was inspired to run following the disastrous Presidential Primary in Maricopa last year, when hundreds of precincts were shut down and many voters were forced to wait for hours to cast a vote in the Sanders/Clinton primary.

Since taking office, Fontes has discovered tens of thousands of voter registration forms, going as far back as a decade, stored in dusty boxes in a county warehouse. The forms, he explains, were never entered in to the voter database, since the applicants failed to include proof of citizenship, as required by Prop 200, a 2004 ballot initiative that is now Arizona law.

Fontes explains that he is now attempting to confirm the citizenship of the would-be voters himself, by checking their status as already tracked by the state's Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) database. "We had a policy in this office that uses what I consider to be a mis-read of state law," he tells me. "The read that was happening says that the County Recorder is to reject the form. My read is, if you've already proven to the State of Arizona that you're a citizen, then you should be allowed to vote."

Critics, specifically Republican critics, charge that Fontes, a U.S. Marine who formerly worked as a prosecutor in both the County Attorney's office as well as for the Arizona Attorney General, is not shy in countering those critics. "Why in the world would anyone not want me to go check with the MVD and say 'lo and behold, the Motor Vehicle Division of the State of Arizona has on file a document proving that this person is a citizen. I will therefore register you to vote!' Why would anybody oppose that?"

Making matters worse or more "ironic" or "laughable", as Fontes describes it, because the federal voter registration form has no instructions for attesting to citizenship status ...........

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[L. Coyote]

1. How easy would it be to rig the next election?

About as easy as the last one was?

Link to tweet

[FakeNoose]

2. He has good intentions but ...

... this could backfire if Fontes makes any mistakes.
He has to be sure he's got the voters' current up-to-date info.

For example some of the records are 30 years old.
In the meantime, people move, get married/divorced, change their names, etc.

So good luck! I hope this works out.

[L. Coyote]

3. I think you are wrong.

How can it backfire? Plus, the media attention means a lot more people will check their registrations or just send in updated registrations which will be processed.

Also, this engenders more Republican backlash. This is a win-win for voters, no matter what, and it may well mean winning more seats in the AZ legislature too.

[FakeNoose]

4. I don't live in Phoenix, never have

So I'm not commenting on the intentions of Mr. Fontes.

I'm commenting on the fact that people's info changes more frequently than you might think.
In the last 30 years, I've lived in 3 states. I've changed my address 5 times. I've been married and divorced.
If I had applied for voter registration 30 years ago, it would be long out of date now.

Mr. Fontes would be wise to check and update the info that was given on those registration forms.
That's all I'm saying.

If he should enroll any voters incorrectly, the Republicans will howl about it, you can be sure of it.

[L. Coyote]

5. Obviously, you also have never had the man's job.

But you have no problem assuming he doesn't know how to do it and you offer the not-so-sage advice " would be wise to check and update the info" on registrations. That would violate the law. He can't update the info. He can register valid registrations.

He knows his job and what he is doing, and you are posting bad advice and negative BS.