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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Report Alleges Widespread Voter Registration Violations in AZ

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Wednesday, November 15, 2017   

PHOENIX – The American Civil Liberties Union Arizona released a report on Tuesday alleging widespread violations of the National Voter Registration Act that could have hindered registration for tens of thousands of low-income Arizonans.

Federal law requires the Motor Vehicle Division (MDV) to automatically update voter registrations when someone changes his or her address, but researchers found many instances where the agency dropped the ball.

ACLU staff attorney Darrell Hill says public assistance agencies also are supposed to take proof of citizenship from their clients and update county records – so the clients’ voter registrations can be processed.

"People are putting in applications at some of these public assistance agencies,” he states. “They think they are going to be registered to vote. But on the back end with the County Recorder's office, they're not actually being registered to vote."

The report alleges systemic violations but not any intent to keep people from registering.

Hill notes, for example, that the MVD is supposed to automatically offer the voter registration application, but instead gives it only upon request.

The report says the official website Service Arizona does not automatically update voter rolls when people change their address.

And the report accuses the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) and the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) of failing to offer all clients the voter registration application.

In a statement, Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan promised to meet with the ACLU and agency managers to review procedures to ensure compliance with the law.

The report found that public assistance agencies have seen a 60 percent drop in voter registrations over the past 15 years, despite an increase in the number of people applying for assistance.

And it found that Arizonans making less than $30,000 a year are much less likely to be registered than people making more than $60,000.

Hill notes that access to voting is a nonpartisan issue.

"It does impact the ability of low-income Arizonans to register to vote, so we're really pushing for compliance,” he states. “And whether it helps one party or another isn't really our concern. "

Statistics show that about 1 million Arizonans are eligible to vote but remain unregistered.

By statute, the secretary of state has 90 days to begin to comply, or face the possibility of litigation.



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