In
2005 AzAN brought together a coalition to initiate a federal lawsuit
seeking to overturn voting barriers enacted with the 2004
anti-immigrant ballot measure known as Prop. 200. The law required that
Arizonans present documentary proof-of-citizenship in order to register
to vote and documentary proof-of-identity (one photo ID or two
non-photo IDs) if they wish to vote at the polls. For those who vote
early or by mail, a signature suffices as proof -of-identity. These
requirements have already barred tens of thousands of citizens from
exercising their most basic right in a democracy, the right to vote.
Many citizens, particularly Native Americans, the poor, the disabled,
the elderly and some of the youngest voters are unable to access any of
the documents necessary to prove citizenship and therefore cannot
register to vote. Many in these same groups lack any of the acceptable
forms of identification necessary to vote at the polls.
This
case developed national significance when the 9th circuit court of
appeals quickly grasped the urgency of the issue and in October,
granted our request for a preliminary injunction enjoining the voting
barriers. After a quick review, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the 9th
circuit and reinstated the identification requirements for the November
7th election. AzAN moved swiftly to recruit, train and deploy 75
volunteers who surveyed voters on election day to record instances of
voter disenfranchisement. Declarations from these volunteers,
disenfranchised voters as well as poll workers who witnessed their
colleagues misapplying the law will be used to supplement the case
which will go to trial in 2008.
A Timeline from Passage of Prop 200 Through Our Court Challenge:
November 2004: Arizona voters pass sweeping anti-immigrant measure known as Prop 200
requiring documentary proof-of-citizenship in order to register to vote
and proof-of-identity for those voting at the polls. The voter
registration requirements are the most restrictive in the country.
January 2005: Law goes into effect
Fall 2005: Original case challenging all provisions of Prop 200 fails when court determines plaintiffs lack standing
October 2005:
Political appointees at the US Dept. of Justice pre-clear AZ Secretary
of State Brewer's plan for implementing ID at the polls despite
objections from career attorneys
December 2005: Arizona Advocacy Network convenes initial coalition to discuss filing a challenge to Prop 200's voting barriers January
through April 2006: Coalition expands to include Inter-Tribal Council
of Arizona, the League of Women Voters of Arizona, State Representative
Steve Gallardo, League of United Latin American Citizens, the Hopi
Tribe, and the People for the American Way Foundation with legal
representation coordinated by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights
Under Law and including Osborn Maledon, Steptoe and Johnson LLP, Joe
Sparks, the ACLU Foundation of Arizona, AARP Foundation, and attorneys
for the People for the American Way Foundation.
March & May 2006: AzAN volunteers survey voters at polling places during municipal elections
July through September 2006:
Thanks to a generous grant from the JEHT Foundation, AzAN canvasses on
the Hopi Reservation, in senior citizen homes, and in low-income
neighborhoods identifying individuals that cannot register to vote
because they lack the necessary documents to prove citizenship.
August 2006:
Eva Steele, a disabled woman living on a fixed income asks to join the
lawsuit because she cannot register to vote in her newly adopted home
state of Arizona. Ms. Steele is the mother of a soldier fighting in
Iraq so that the Iraqi people can vote in their own democracy. She was
scheduled to testify before the US House Committee on Administration
but was cut from the witness list after her draft testimony was
reviewed by Committee leadership, which supports Arizona's voting
barriers. Read her testimony here.
September 2006:
AzAN volunteers document numerous cases of voters wrongly being turned
away at the polls because pollworkers claimed the voters had not
produced sufficient ID
October 2006:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals grants our request for preliminary
injunction barring Prop 200's voting barriers through November 2006
election.
October 2006:
US Supreme Court reverses Ninth Circuit; Prop 200's voting barriers are
restored. AzAN petitions the district court to allow our non-partisan
observers inside polling places. Court denies our requests and
instructs the defendants--county recorders' offices--to gather evidence
for the plaintiffs by documenting each case of voters being denied the
right to vote due to ID problems.
November 2006:
AzAN recruits, trains and deploys more than 100 volunteers to document
disenfranchisement in November '06 election due to Voter ID
requirements. AzAN's volunteers document hundreds of instances of
voters being turned away from polling places. Later, defendants submit
report to the courts showing zero problems at these same polling places.
August 2007:
AzAN's 40+ volunteers begin contacting the more than 30,000 people
whose voter registration applications have been rejected due to
inadequate proof-of-citizenship. Using heavily redacted copies of the
rejected forms, AzAN is able to call hundreds of would be voter helping
dozens register to vote. Our efforts were shut down after the court
agreed with attorneys for the county recorders that we were placing
these would-be registrants in danger of identity theft.
Fall 2007:
District Court judge decides to wait until the Indiana Voter ID case is
decided by the United States Supreme Court before scheduling a hearing
on the merits of our case.
April 2008:
U.S. Supreme Court upholds Indiana's Voter ID law in a six to three
decision. Door is still open for other challenges that produce
significant numbers of individuals adversely affected by requirements
that voters produce ID in order to vote at the polls.
“In
a democracy suffrage is the most basic civil right, since its exercise
is the chief means whereby other rights may be safe-guarded. To deny
the right to vote where one is legally entitled to do so, is to do
violence to the principles of freedom and equality.” -Judge
Levi S. Udall, father of Congressman Morris Udall, quoting the Indian
law scholar Felix Cohen in the 1948 decision granting Native Americans
the right to vote.
Share