Arizona: anti-immigrant law keeps Americans from registering
The Los Angeles Times reports: A stringent new voter-identification law being put into effect in Arizona -- designed to keep illegal immigrants from voting -- is also preventing thousands of legitimate voters from casting ballots in Tuesday's election, according to election officials.
Part of Proposition 200, which voters approved last year, the regulations require proving U.S. citizenship to register to vote and showing a photo ID at the polls. The law put this border state at the edge of a nationwide push to tighten screening at the polls: 15 states now require ID at polling places, but no other state requires documentation of citizenship in order to register.
It's a movement that advocates say is long overdue to prevent election fraud, but which critics say will decrease voter turnout and has already disenfranchised thousands of legitimate Arizona voters.
In Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, more than 10,000 people trying to register have been rejected for being unable to prove their citizenship. Yvonne Reed, a spokeswoman for the recorder's office, said Friday that most are probably U.S. citizens whose married names differ from the ones on their birth certificates or who have lost documentation. -- Arizona ID rule may deny U.S. citizens right to vote / Law passed to keep illegal immigrants from casting ballots