Tomorrow, citizens in Arizona will vote in one of two primary elections. Some will vote for state and federal positions. A few, about 1500 people in AZ, will only get to vote for a congressional candidate. The AZ GOP, influenced by ALEC and Kris Kobach of Kansas, and emboldened by the Supremes, has developed a two tier voting system. If you registered to vote using the federal form, you will have only one race (or none, if there is no congressional candidate) to vote on, using your restricted ballot.
The two tier voting system came about as a result of the Supreme Court's June 2013 ruling in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council (written by Antonin Scalia), a legal battle over Proposition 200, Arizona's 2004 voter identification law. In that ruling, the Supremes decided that proof of citizenship is not required for federal elections, but states could require proof of citizenship for state elections.
Tom Horne, the disgraced, attorney general of AZ, handed down a 16 page opinion supporting a two tier system. Ken "Birther" Bennett, Secretary of State and RW gubernatorial candidate, created the two tier ballot system (with help I'm sure from Kris Kobach. The outcome? Voter suppression. People registering through the federal form don't show proof of citizenship, therefore they cannot vote for state and local candidates.
http://www.azcentral.com/...
Bennett sought legal advice after the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2013 ruled Arizona cannot demand documents proving citizenship from people who use the federal voter-registration form, saying it would infringe on federal law. That form requires people to affirm, under penalty of perjury, that they are U.S. citizens.
In his legal opinion, Horne said the state would be best advised to create a two-track system, with one ballot for those using the state registration form and another for people who don't provide documents proving citizenship.
Some of us believe that Arizona's right wing leadership has made Arizona into
the new Mississippi.
The tactics of Arizona and Kansas recall the days of segregation and the Supreme Court’s 1896 “separate but equal” ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson. “These dual registration systems have a really ugly racial history,” says Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “They were set up after Reconstruction alongside poll taxes, literacy tests and all the other devices that were used to disenfranchise African-American voters.
Of course, a two tier system is costly. In Coconino County, the cost is $66,471 to accommodate 22 voters and in Maricopa County the cost is $250,000.
So what better way for red state legislators to keep their seats at the state house, than by suppressing the votes of newcomers who register to vote when they get their drivers' licenses and chalking it all up to preventing "the illegals" from voting.
The Justice Dept will argue against the two tier system in the 10th circuit appeals court today. Kris Kobach will argue in favor of voter suppression.
Good sources of information:
Kansas moves ahead on Two Tier Voting System
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/...
The New Nullification Movement
http://www.thenation.com/...
Some good news in all this? Both Horne and Bennett will lose their primaries in AZ tomorrow. In a red state, one must be thankful for small favors.