Arizona Capitol Reports Staff//July 25, 2005//[read_meter]
Arizona Capitol Reports Staff//July 25, 2005//[read_meter]
A plan to implement the voting provisions of a law targeting illegal immigrants could force poll workers to turn some eligible voters away, according to county election officials from across the state.
The plan to comply with the voter-approved Proposition 200 calls for voters to be given more ways to prove their identity than under previous proposals.
But some county election officials and others are concerned about the part of the plan that says those lacking Proposition 200-compliant identification wouldn’t be able to cast even a provisional ballot.
Under the old rules, voters whose names were left off the roster in their voting district were permitted to cast a provisional ballot without providing identification. Workers verified the votes before they were counted.
Secretary of State Jan Brewer and Attorney General Terry Goddard negotiated the new rules this month, although they still need approval from Governor Napolitano and the U.S. Justice Department.
Proposition 200, which was approved by voters in November, was designed to combat voting fraud, particularly among undocumented immigrants. It carried a vague requirement that voters produce identification to cast a ballot in person.
Mrs. Brewer, Mr. Goddard and Ms. Napolitano have disagreed over how to implement the mandate. The agreement is an attempt to settle some of their differences.
Under the proposed new rules, voters would need to show one piece of photo ID with a current address or at least two forms of non-photo ID containing a current address. Those could include utility and cell phone bills, tribal enrollment and Indian census cards, or bank and credit-union statements.
Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez said a plan that potentially could disenfranchise registered voters would be unconstitutional and could spark lawsuits.
“It’s going to hurt people who tend to move a lot, young people who all live together with the utilities in just one name,” she said. “We have a few legislators who really don’t know what we really do internally in conducting elections trying to create law where they don’t know the total ramifications.”
Ms. Rodriguez, who was among election officials from 10 of the state’s 15 counties to express concerns or suggest changes to Mrs. Brewer’s proposal, argued that any photo ID with a name and address, not just government-issued IDs, should be acceptable. And any mail delivered to a voter’s registered address by the U.S. Postal Service should also be allowed to help prove a voter’s identity.
Deputy Secretary of State Kevin Tyne dismissed some of the criticisms as “mostly political.”
“Some of them (county recorders) were opposed to Prop. 200 from the get-go,” Mr. Tyne said. “This is a first draft. It’s not a done deal.” —
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