Today is the Day: Remember to Vote!
Four anti-immigrant ballot measures will be voted on today, and their fate will hinge on the number of people who make it to the polls and vote. It's too important not to vote. If Proposition 300 passes, the citizen children of hard-working parents may be denied child care, promising young adults who grew up in Arizona and aspire to college will be denied their dreams and immigrants seeking to improve their English language skills will be disenrolled from Arizona's adult basic education programs.
Arizona is in danger of passing three other largely symbolic ballot measures - reactionary and dangerous proposals that give Arizona voters frustrated with the large number of Mexican migrants crossing the border something to lash out with. Yet these propositions do nothing to discourage migration. They may harm immigrants who have lived here for years, but the real damage will be done to the State's constitution. Proposition 100, 102 and 103 write discrimination into the state's fundamental legal document by creating new sub-classes into the criminal and civil legal systems, and with Prop 103, Arizona will pass an initiative similar to one deemed unconstitutional by Arizona's Supreme Court almost a decade ago.
But many eyes and ears will be focused on what actually happens at the polls today. Anti-immigrant activists have threatened to descend on Pima County polling sites in largely Latino communities claiming to discourage voting by undocumented immigrants. Never having demonstrated that undocumented immigrants vote, this is all far too reminiscent of Jim Crow-era tactics used in the South and Southwest years ago. Click here to view the ruse.
But most observers are concerned with the impact of the Arizona voter identification requirements passed by voters in 2004 as part of Proposition 200. By the end of the day, we'll have a better sense of what kind of impact voter identification laws may have on attempts by legitimate voters to cast ballots. Click here to review the Tucson Citizen article reminding voters what they should bring to the polls to make sure that they can vote.
Stay tuned for more information about the election, the results, and other news related to the "Neighbors Working for Immigrant Dignity" campaign.