As Maricopa County voters dealt with excruciatingly long wait times, Pima County residents struggled with a different challenge on Tuesday: incorrect party-affiliation listings that prevented some from casting a ballot. Longtime election volunteer Sister Karen Berry, 72, said she noticed quickly that something was amiss during this week’s presidential preference election. Time after time, voters showed up at St. Frances Cabrini Church — where Berry was volunteering — convinced they were properly registered and ready to vote for their party’s nominee. But poll workers had to tell them they weren’t listed as affiliated with any party. Others found out their voter ID card — which many received in the mail on election day — read “PND,” or party not designated.
In Arizona’s presidential preference elections, voters must be registered with a party — Democrat, Republican or Green — to vote for one of the party’s candidates.
In a minority of cases, the voters realized it was their own mistake, Berry said, but most were adamant they had registered properly. Berry got those voters provisional ballots in the hopes that when their party affiliation is double-checked at the Pima County Recorder’s Office, those votes will count.
“That happened so much (Tuesday) that I hope it gets investigated,” said Berry, former religious education director at St. Frances Cabrini. “So many said, ‘What! I’ve been a Republican or Democrat all my life.’ When that happens so often, we begin to think it’s not the people’s fault.”
Full Article: Officials look into reports of Pima County voting problems.