Voter Intimidation and Voter ID at the Polls in Tucson
Some Arizona precincts felt more like the wild west on November 7. Here in Pima County, two of our canvassers assisted MALDEF in surveying voters to assess the impact of Proposition 200 voter identification requirements. In Precinct 49 in Tucson, they ran into much more. Anti-immigrant vigilantes brazenly intimated Latino voters outside of the polling site. An article ran in the Arizona Republic briefly describing what happened.
Their intent was not simply to intimidate voters. They came with cameras so they could take pictures and post photos of Latino voters on the internet and compare their faces to those of undocumented immigrants.
Inside polling sites, numerous concerns were raised about incorrect application of voter identification requirements. Some voters simply chose not to go to the polls. One Campaign volunteer witnessed a frustrated voter opting to bring in a bag of utility bills, planting it on the table at a polling site and asking the poll workers to tell her which ones she could use to prove her identity.
It's unclear what impact these activities had on voter turnout in Arizona, but it's certainly clear that numerous problems - some irritating and some down-right unethical and probably illegal - were rampant in communities across southern Arizona.