Five-Hour Long Lines, 70 Percent Reduction in Polling Stations Draws Eye of Civil Rights Division
The U.S. Dept. of Justice has notified officials in Maricopa County, Arizona, that it is investigating the chaos from Western Tuesday, primary election day on March 22 when many voters waited in lines up to five hours long, after the county cut the number of polling places from 200 in 2012 to just 60 last month.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division sent a letter to Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell that includes a 10-point list of items and information the federal government is requesting. Purcell infamously blamed voters initially for the long lines later acknowledging she had made the decision to cut polling places. Maricopa County had just one polling station for every 21,000 voters March 22.
“Votes were still being cast past 10 p.m. in 20 of the 60 locations, meaning residents had to wait at least three hours to choose a candidate in the White House race. The polls closed at 7 p.m., but anyone who was in line at that point could vote,” the AP reports. “One location in Phoenix saw its last voter just two minutes before 1 a.m. Fourteen of the 20 sites that had people voting past 10 p.m. were in Phoenix or its western suburbs, while six were in the eastern part of the Phoenix metro area.”
The DOJ is asking for “a description of how county election officials determined how many polling places were needed on March 22 and whether potential impacts on minority voters were examined.”
Additionally, some voters complained they had registered as Democrats but say they were not allowed to vote normally becuase their affiliation was listed as independent. Only those registered as Democrats or Republicans are allowed to vote in their respective party’s primaries.
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