Arizona Voter Registration Groups Sue Secretary Reagan For People Who Change Addresses With MVD; “Stamping Their Feet” Or “Protecting Qualified Voters”?

The League of Women Voters has filed a federal lawsuit against Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan on Saturday, as a result of a disagreement over when and how to change people’s addresses for voting purposes after they  filed a change of address with the Motor Vehicle Division. Is it an example of “stamping their feet in front of a judge” – as claimed by Reagan’s office – or “protect(ing) thousands of Arizonans from the irreparable loss of their right to vote this November.” That will be among the questions for the judge to decide.

Joining LWV in bringing the suit are voter registration groups Promise Arizona and Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, with legal assistance by the ACLU (national and Arizona chapter) and others. They are asking that the Court order the Secretary to instruct County Recorders to count provisional ballots that may be voted at the voters’ old address (because that still shows as their voter registration address despite filing a change with MVD).

The Court is also being asked to order the Secretary of State to notify – before mid-September – all voters who filed change of addresses with MVD. The letter would instruct them as to their voting options and would include a voter registration form. (Click here to read the Complaint and related filings.)

After the voter registration groups reached an understanding last week with MVD, AHCCCS and DES about future cure to the agreed violations of the federal Motor Voter Act, Secretary Reagan announced that she had rejected the demands because changes are already scheduled for 2019 and trying it now “would only produce voter confusion.” Secretary of State Communications Director Matt Roberts told Arizona’s Politics that:

“It’s disappointing that organizations like the ACLU, Mi Familia Vota and the League of Women Voters are seemingly more interested in stamping their feet in front of a judge rather than accepting the fact that the changes they want are already scheduled. We’re confident the court will agree that sending a letter to five hundred thousand people saying the state changed their voter registration address right before an election isn’t the greatest idea.”

 

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Gordon Promises to Oust Secretary of State and End Voter Suppression

Mark Robert Gordon, an Arizona native, has 25 years of experience as a voting rights watchdog.
Mark Robert Gordon, an Arizona native, has 25 years of experience as a voting rights watchdog.

Mark Robert Gordon, a Democratic candidate for Secretary of State, vowed to end the voter suppression tactics and partisan politics that have infected the office that serves as the chief elections officer for Arizona.

He called Republican incumbent Secretary of State Michele Reagan “a Grinch who stole democracy,” at the recent Democrats of Greater Tucson meeting.

Reagan and GOP legislators “are supposed to promote democracy and protect the vote. They did just the opposite,” he said. “The people we have in Arizona running our election system are among the worst violators and offenders of voting rights in the country.”

Arizona was one of only seven states listed in federal court for intentionally restricting the opportunity to register and vote. Under the Voting Rights Act, the state was subject to pre-clearance by the Justice Department before making any voting changes.

Travesties

But that went out the window with the 2013 US Supreme Court ruling in Shelby County v. Holder that gutted the Voting Rights Act. Gordon said that since then, the following travesties have happened:

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Clinton, Trump, and Stein in early leads in Arizona PPE

Unofficial results from the Arizona Presidential Preference Election (PPE) from Secretary of State Michele Reagan’s website: http://apps.azsos.gov/election/2016/PPE/Results/PPE2016Results.htm. Only top two vote getters are being reported. Democratic Party:         Hillary Clinton  58%      Bernie Sanders  40% Republican Party:   Donald Trump  47%    Ted Cruz  25% Green Party:   Jill Stein  81%      Kent Mesplay  19% … Read more

Independents can’t vote in Arizona Presidential Preference Election on March 22

Information flyers below from  former ACLU Southern AZ  board member Paul Barby, about the upcoming PPE on March 22, 2016 in Arizona.  Take heed Independents (now listed at 1,201,030 registered voters on the Arizona Secretary of State’s website).  You can vote in the Democratic, Green, or Republican primaries if you register for that party by Feb. 22, 2016 … Read more