It’s 2016 and we’re living in the technological age. But not in Arizona. Home of Sheriff Joe and rattlesnakes. Or Diamondbacks. In truth, the long lines on the day of the presidential primary were the result of very poor planning, they were unforgivable and just plain wrong.
So wrong that the Democratic National Committee has sued the Grand Canyon state charging voter disenfranchisement and voting irregularities.
“Republicans are using every tool, every legal loophole and every fear tactic they can think of to take aim at voting rights wherever they can,” said DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. “And what they’re aiming at is clear — they want nothing less than to disenfranchise voting groups who are inconvenient to them on Election Day.”
The lawsuit names Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell, who offered an apology and took responsibility after the debacle, along with the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan.
Purcell had recommended to the supervisors earlier in the year that the number of precincts in Maricopa County, the state’s largest, be dropped from 200 in 2012 to just 60 this year. She was guessing, apparently, that there wouldn’t be much interest in the presidential primary, despite record high ratings for the debates all last winter.
If it were my job to “guarantee” smooth elections, and I saw the pictures of those thousands of people waiting hours in line to simply vote in a presidential primary, I’d probably quit. But that’s me.
Hillary Clinton handily won Arizona’s Democratic primary, 58 percent to Bernie Sanders’ 40 percent, but Sanders’ supporters were livid about the long lines. In truth, Sanders would have been pounded in Maricopa County regardless. His strength was up north in Coconino County around Northern Arizona University.
Still, there’s no excuse for long lines in 2016. Let the lawsuit proceed.