Thousands upon thousands of votes aren’t counted every election year in Arizona, according to a new report. The Arizona Advocacy Network, which is run by a onetime Democratic politician, released a report detailing how Arizona’s election laws affect voter turnout, and it doesn’t look good — through public records and voter data, the organization found that more than 100,000 votes haven’t been counted over the last 10 years. “When it comes to disenfranchising eligible voters, Arizona is, unfortunately, a national leader,” the report states. “These discarded votes were not the result of fraud, which is so extremely rare it borders on nonexistent. These were eligible voters – sometimes confused, sometimes misinformed or merely forgetful, sometimes willfully targeted because they share a common last name.” For example, there were more than 121,000 provisional ballots rejected from 2006 to 2014.
Provisional ballots are those cast at polls, but aren’t quite the same as the regular ballot. If a voter didn’t bring ID, or the voter’s name wasn’t on the roster at that precinct, the voter had a name or address change, or the person already requested an early ballot, then they vote with a provisional ballot, and the counties then determine whether those votes count.
… There have also been a lot of reports by voters in recent years that there’s confusion over their correct polling place. Some people are told that they’re at the wrong place despite voting there in the past, and there have been reports that poll workers have told people to go to the wrong place.
Full Article: Thousands of Arizona Voting Ballots Going Uncounted Every Election, Report Says | Phoenix New Times.