skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

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

play audio
Play

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.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021