# Arizona Democrats told they're Republicans **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 23, 2016, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-democrats-told-theyre-republicans/749934 "2016-03-23T11:47:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-democrats-told-theyre-republicans/749934/1 "2016-03-23T11:47:19Z")
[Link](http://reverbpress.com/politics/battlegrounds/arizona-democrats-primary-republicans/) > [@](#): > > Democrats in Maricopa County Arizona have reported being unable to vote after being told at the polls that they were registered as Independents, Republicans, or Libertarians… > > A party spokesperson said more than 20 voters had called, and that the Arizona Democratic Party is investigating the matter… > > The mix-up comes amidst a record turnout in Maricopa Country. Adding to the problem, fewer polling stations are operating this year after the County Recorder’s Office cut the number of locations by 70 percent. And from [another article](http://usuncut.com/news/arizona-polling-disaster/): > [@](#): > > Leaders from the Arizona branch of the Democratic Party have confirmed that its lawyers are officially making an inquiry after multiple Democratic voters showed up to the polls only to find that they were listed as independents, Republicans, or had no party affiliation at all. > > Many voters wound up having to wait in line under the hot Arizona sun only to find that they were ineligible to vote for the candidates of their choice. To add insult to injury, the polling locations have been so poorly planned that many voters had to wait in line up to four hours before finding out that their information had been improperly filed… > > Maricopa County, home of Phoenix, which is traditionally very conservative, is four times larger than Pima County, which houses Tucson, a traditionally liberal city. Yet despite over 4 million people residing in Maricopa County, and less than 1 million living in Pima County, Pima had twice as many polling locations as Maricopa, according to [AZCentral.com](http://AZCentral.com)… > > No word has been given as to whether there was a pattern as to which kind of demographics were experiencing this kind of treatment, and no explanation has been given regarding what caused this bizarre error. I heard a story a few months ago that Republicans in one city (back East, I think) were complaining that their votes were being switched by the voting machines to Democratic ones. But I seem to recall in 2008 that Democrats’ votes were being switched to Republican, and the problem with the (Diebold) machines was more widespread. From voting machine problems to ‘hanging chads’ to voters not being registered with the party they registered with, why do voting ‘errors’ seem to go against Democrats so often? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-democrats-told-theyre-republicans/749934/2 "2016-03-23T12:09:10Z")
Actually, I only found the two articles (at a quarter to five, so I’m sleepy). Anyone see anything from better-known sources? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-democrats-told-theyre-republicans/749934/3 "2016-03-23T15:38:46Z")
I can’t find anything about party affiliation errors, but plenty about the long lines. They were so long some people were waiting 4 hours or more to vote. That’s unacceptable! This is a new “improvement”. they cut the number of polling places, but now you can vote at any one, not just your assigned one. The second is an improvement, the first definitely is not. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-democrats-told-theyre-republicans/749934/4 "2016-03-23T18:28:00Z")
Seems to me it’s about time to mandate by Federal law that both parties have to have their primary on the same day using the same facilities in each and every state that wants to have a primary at all. Better yet, outlaw closed primaries. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-democrats-told-theyre-republicans/749934/5 "2016-03-23T18:40:47Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Seems to me it’s about time to mandate by Federal law that both parties have to have their primary on the same day using the same facilities in each and every state that wants to have a primary at all. Better yet, outlaw closed primaries. Why would you interject the Federal government into what is clearly a state matter? Of course, I see no reason that the states should be running/paying for primary elections either - the parties should be free to choose their candidates however they want, but in no case should they expect the taxpayers to foot the bill. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-democrats-told-theyre-republicans/749934/6 "2016-03-23T19:00:10Z")
That’s probably the best solution of all. My concern is that separate is never equal. A topic we’ve had plenty of Federally-mediated strife over in this country. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-democrats-told-theyre-republicans/749934/7 "2016-03-23T20:54:29Z")
One thing I DO know is in my state, when you go online to register there was a nice dropdown list of available party choices. Well, the dropdown wasn’t wide enough to display the entire length of all the party listings. And that’s the story of how I accidentally signed up for the “Independence Party” as opposed to simply registering as an independent, because all I could see on the dropdown was “INDEPENDEN” They’ve fixed it, though. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-democrats-told-theyre-republicans/749934/8 "2016-03-23T22:55:38Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Why would you interject the Federal government into what is clearly a state matter? Of course, I see no reason that the states should be running/paying for primary elections either - the parties should be free to choose their candidates however they want, but in no case should they expect the taxpayers to foot the bill. Agreed. I have never understood why the government is helping pick the major party nominees. Can the Libertarians, Greens, etc. get in on that? And I’ve always felt that it makes no sense allowing non-party members pick a nominee for that party. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-democrats-told-theyre-republicans/749934/9 "2016-03-24T15:16:05Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Agreed. I have never understood why the government is helping pick the major party nominees. Can the Libertarians, Greens, etc. get in on that? > > And I’ve always felt that it makes no sense allowing non-party members pick a nominee for that party. Yeah, they can. If they have multiple candidates they can have them put on the primary ticket. Primaries aren’t just party things. My local school board and city council - where party identification isn’t allowed on the ballot (but you can get endorsements) - if there are too many candidates to put on the election ballot and get a clear result. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-democrats-told-theyre-republicans/749934/10 "2016-03-24T19:08:19Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Why would you interject the Federal government into what is clearly a state matter? The primaries for the Presidency and both houses of Congress are not a Federal matter? 😕 [QUOTE=U.S. Constitution, Art. I, Sec. 4] The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof;\*\* but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators\*\*. [/QUOTE] (Emphasis added.) ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-democrats-told-theyre-republicans/749934/11 "2016-03-24T21:41:39Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > The primaries for the Presidency and both houses of Congress are not a Federal matter? 😕 Not in my opinion. The general election certainly is within Federal scope, but if the Democrats decide to change their rules to select a candidate by randomly selecting a name from the phone book of a randomly selected city and the Republicans select the person who can drink a 20-oz beer the fastest, that is actually perfectly acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-democrats-told-theyre-republicans/749934/12 "2016-03-24T22:12:33Z")
So… 20 voters out of 4 million… is news? 99.9995% correct sounds pretty fucking good to me. If it’s some conspiracy to throw the primaries, I’d say the conspirators failed the shit out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-democrats-told-theyre-republicans/749934/13 "2016-03-24T22:22:07Z")
> [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](#): > > So… 20 voters out of 4 million… is news? > > 99.9995% correct sounds pretty fucking good to me. If it’s some conspiracy to throw the primaries, I’d say the conspirators failed the shit out of it. What if the mis-registration was intentional? That would be crime. There are about 360,000,000 people in the United States. If 1,800 of them committed a crime (pick one – say, identity theft) they shouldn’t be prosecuted because they’re only 0.0005% of the population? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-democrats-told-theyre-republicans/749934/14 "2016-03-24T22:22:57Z")
The lack of polling places was terrible, but unless other evidence comes out, I’d assume that the people who thought they were Democrats were just mistaken about their registration. Lots of people aren’t good at following rules, filling out paperwork, or remembering what they did in the past, and many of them vote. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-democrats-told-theyre-republicans/749934/15 "2016-03-24T23:36:03Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > What if the mis-registration was intentional? That would be crime. There are about 360,000,000 people in the United States. If 1,800 of them committed a crime (pick one – say, identity theft) they shouldn’t be prosecuted because they’re only 0.0005% of the population? That’s not even a properly constructed strawman as this is about 20 victims, not 20 perpetrators. And anyway I’d bet my left nut that more than 1,800 acts of identity theft occurred today which will not be investigated beyond “what’s your name? Here’s your incident number.” I’m saying 0.0005% is such an incredibly slim margin of error that it’s unlikely to be fraud. Nobody looked at 20 cases of misregistration out of 4 million and said “gosh, this is an alarming trend worth investigating.” Some lazy reporter had a deadline to meet and wrote a story about vote suppression against democrats before gathering the facts and fell prey to the sunk cost fallacy after discovering that the facts weren’t there. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-democrats-told-theyre-republicans/749934/16 "2016-03-25T08:30:51Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Not in my opinion. The general election certainly is within Federal scope, but if the Democrats decide to change their rules to select a candidate by randomly selecting a name from the phone book of a randomly selected city and the Republicans select the person who can drink a 20-oz beer the fastest, that is actually perfectly acceptable. What does that have to do with it being up to the states? You’re saying it should be up to the parties. And, no, that’s not acceptable if you believe in democracy at all. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-democrats-told-theyre-republicans/749934/17 "2016-03-25T21:49:19Z")
20 victims? I bet most of them registered Republican in 2012 to vote for Ron Paul as he attracted some of the same support that Bernie has.