by Pamela Powers Hannley We here are Blog for Arizona have been beating the drum for election reform continuously for several weeks (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,10, 11)– long before our state was disgraced last week with 600,000+ uncounted ballots. In the election integrity arena, one thing that Arizona has done right– despite the Arizona Legislature– is to … Read more
by David Safier
John Stewart did an interview with the director of "Brooklyn Castle," a film about a Brooklyn middle school which has won more chess championships than any other school anywhere. The director is accompanied by one of the chess champs who is now in high school. The interview is a short lesson in why the intangibles, which are so often ignored, even de-funded as this program was, are so much more vital to students' educations than the damn standardized tests. Since I won't be there to quiz you on the interview, you can make up your own questions, then answer them.
h/t to Asher Huey, who took me and other bloggers who went to D.C. for an "Occupy Congress" event last December under his wing, for the clip. He's now doing online communications for the AFT (American Federation of Teachers).
by David Safier The Tea Party Patriots are upset with John Boehner over this commment in a November 8 interview with Diane Sawyer: “Listen, I think this has been the most misreported story of my two years’ tenure. We don’t have a tea party caucus to speak of in the House.” Boehner is a member … Read more
Eariler this week, Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett announced that more than 600,000 ballots from Tuesday's election had yet to be counted. According to the Wednesday Arizona Daily Star the breakdown is:
Maricopa County: 460,000
Pima County: 80,000
Pinal County: 27,000
Coconino County: 11,000
Navajo County: 5,600
Gila County: 3,400
Apache County: 2,457
Cochise County: who knows? (And why don't they know?)
The 2012 Arizona election is one for the record books with the vast numbers of uncounted ballots, the largest number of provisional ballots ever, pre-election suppression of Latino vote in Maricopa County, polling place misinformation spread by Jeff Flake's campaign, questions about the integrity of Pima County's voting machines, and evidence that the Pima County Elections Department asked for and was granted permission by Bennet not to follow state law when processing ballots. (How many other counties were given a pass on the law by Bennett? An image of the letter is after the jump.)
Now, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow is using Arizona– and specifically Pima County– as the poster child for need for election reform– because Pima has a history of voter suppression. (Us?)
In 2008, the ACLU named Pima County #1 in the country for voter suppression when F. Ann Rodreguez's department threw out 18% of the provisional ballots– rather than spend the estimated 45 minutes per ballot to verify addresses. (Why was she re-elected?) We can't let this happen again. This year we must hold her feet to the fire. Every provisional ballot must counted. If you are one of the 1000s of Pima residents whose vote has not been counted, go here to check on your early ballot and go here to check on your provisional ballot.
After the jump, watch Maddow skewer Arizona for having more than 600,000 uncounted votes. No one should concede until all ballots have been counted. Today's Arizona Daily Star said that could take another week. We need election reform.
by Pamela Powers Hannley The Tucson Pima Arts Council's annual Open Studio Tour takes place this weekend on Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. More than 200 local artists will open their studios, show off their work, and hopefully sell some of it. I attended the Open Studio reception on Thursday night, and … Read more