I’m pretty angry right now.
I just went to vote in the primary. In hand was my driver’s license and voter ID card. Because the addresses didn’t match, I wasn’t allowed to vote until I showed another form of ID with matching addresses. I, of course, didn’t have one. None of the materials mailed to us or displayed in our polling place mention this requirement.
The thing about AZ is that our licenses don’t expire for a really long time, and as long as you register your new address with the state they don’t re-issue your license. Thus, the odds are very high you’ll have an ID with a different address than where you live.
Digging through the car we found the sample ballots mailed to us. It turns out anything with your name and address on it, including utility bills, is considered a valid ID. They let us skip the line and vote.
From a security perspective this does nothing to reduce voter fraud. Most of the illegals in the area who are willing to risk registering and trying to vote can easily produce a utility bill, and that combined with the voter ID card mailed to them will work just fine. Pretending to be someone else? I suppose you could pull that off, but you’d know the ID requirement and their name going in and could easily fake it.
I won’t go all civil-liberties on you and talk about how these ID requirements are generally class warfare.
We did get to vote, but perhaps any of you legal types out there will have fun with this hidden requirement, never mentioned in any materials mailed or posted.
The poll workers were very frustrated with the requirement. They informed us most people had an updated vehicle registration of insurance card they could scrounge up, and nearly everyone was allowed to vote. Needless to say, we’ll be filing a complaint.
Reader interactions
10 Replies to “Arizona Has Undocumented Voting Requirements”
I just ran across your blog trying to figure out if others are having this problem in AZ and what to do about it. My GF and I were turned away this morning (November 4) with our DLs and proper voter cards. They said we couldn’‘t vote if the address on our licenses didn’‘t match the roles. We presented our voter ID cards. They didn’‘t care and became VERY rude. They told us we could do provisional, but we declined opting to try to find SOMETHING to allow us to vote today. Funnily then on the way home we heard a report on NPR about how provisional ballots should only be used as an absolute last resort since making a case to prove your identity in time within the time constraint means it’s likely your vote won’‘t count. We dug around the apartment for 25 minutes looking for a bill in my name. I just moved here a month ago and all the utilities are in her name, which makes it really hard to find “proof.” I eventually found something and got to vote and I am trying to figure out who to complain to about this STUPIDITY (that I voted against in 2004).
Need to wear your cowboy hat and carry your side arm ‘‘cause ya’‘ll don’‘t look like no pho-nee-shun. Must be a snow bird tryin’’ to sneak in an extra vote.
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I love my AZ drivers license. I get to have ONE crappy picture for perpetuity, as opposed to a series of crappy picture with me looking progressively older. Besides, it’s great fun with new TSA agents or 7-11 clerks.
Actually, Real-ID should help, since the requirement is that the license always have the current address printed and encoded. No more of the “just tell the DMV” stuff, or little stickers. So, your drivers license *has* to show where you actually live. Which should match your voting district.
When I had a green card, I always had to fight the DMV off as they always wanted to register me to vote.
A REAL-ID card wouldn’‘t help here. The problem is the physical ID has a different address than the voting district, so you would have the same problem (update the physical ID or show proof that you moved).
Again, all these voter ID requirements are meant to solve a problem that doesn’‘t exist. Voter registration fraud is common—people die, people move and it the data isn’‘t updated, people accidently register twice in the same state, paid promoters by 527 groups make up names. Voter fraud, on the other hand, is a real rarity.
We had a great case in VA where a permanent resident accidently checked the box for voter registration while apply for a new license, was arrested and then deported.
Rich:
Once you have your national ID card … er.. “Real ID” drivers license, you shouldn’‘t have a problem. Because, of course, your real home address needs to be part of the card. AZ is one of the states that has agreed to Real ID, probably because you’‘re overrun with illegals.
I was pissed when I found out that the caucus in Colorado begins with a freaking prayer. Whatever happened to separation of church and state. What in the world would inspire people to believe that having a conversation with their special invisible friend has anything to do with voting?
I walked in – wrote my name and address on a piece of paper and voted. I had a lot of issues with the process. IDs aren’‘t the problem – there is no evidence that lack of IDs are the cause of any voting fraud. Here in MN we have high turnouts with very little controversy and no ID requirements. But there are so many parts of this process that are open to manipulation. IDs are just the convenient scapegoat. The simple fact is that elections are infrequent events staffed by individuals who are well meaning but inexperienced. Due to the infrequency of the events and lack of any proper training there is guaranteed to be issues. The problem is that the voting process is not something you do over if it fails so you got to get it right the first time. That is a very difficult thing to do.
Personally I hate crap like this. You had a picture ID and your voter’s card. Why another piece of ID? Is it the assumption that the state-issued picture ID is not secure?
We have a similar law here in Indiana, enacted for purely political reasons. It should be noted that supporters could not name a single incident of voter fraud at a polling station however absentee voting was shown to have serious issues. Naturally the law doesn’‘t cover absentee ballots and voting… sheesh.
In MA we get little address label stickers to put on the back of our licenses. Easy to forge in any case.
Although I just realized, when I went to vote, no one even asked for ID…Hrm.
Rich, sorry to hear about your problems voting. That is why these ID requirements are stupid—and it could have been worse. If you were given a provisional ballot (the voting booth workers didn’‘t like your ID) then there was a good chance in AZ that your provisional ballot would never be counted.
Although in a border state it may be different, generally speaking there have been almost zero cases of voter fraud—something like 5 prosecuted in the last few years. These requirements may sound great, but what they mostly do is tangle up honest people.
Also, this is why I always disparage problems with e-voting security—the way you screw with elections is with small changes like this to voting requirements. No need to bring in a hacker.
I was just going to say almost exactly what Colin did. No ID, just name and street address. Actually they ask for your street address first and then since the list is right there on the table in front of you, you can just point to your name. So really all you need is an address.
To top that all off, my wife voted earlier today and when I went to vote after work, I noticed that they had forgotten to cross her name off the list! Very robust processes here.