Arizona Native Americans Forced to Use Provisional Ballots

by James Parks, Nov 4, 2008

This is the latest of our updates on voting issues throughout the day. Share what’s going on at your polling place on our Open Thread here.

Native Americans in Whiteriver, Ariz.,who have recently changed addresses are being denied the right to vote because their driver’s licenses have post office boxes, EricAZ reports on Daily Kos. Republican challengers are forcing Apaches to accept provisional ballots because they say they need a physical address on their IDs. They also are turning these voters away, not telling them how to verify information to make their provisional ballots count.

In other voting day issues:

• Huffington Post reports that more than 5,600 people, mainly Virginia Tech students, are registered to vote at precinct E1 in Blacksburg, Va. That number is nearly double what the state law allows for polling stations, and the lack of an additional polling station is causing substantial delays. In addition, the polling place is 6.5 miles away from campus at a tiny church located off the main road, with only 30 parking spaces. Shuttle buses took students to the church, but could only carry 40 students at a time. Volunteers are helping shuttle students in cars and vans to alleviate the backup.
• MSNBC reports that voting machine malfunctions are widespread in at least a dozen locations in Pennsylvania, mainly around Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Election protection hotlines have received reports of campaign materials being illegally distributed at polling locations in Pittsburgh. Voters across the state are reporting they never received their absentee ballots, which is creating additional chaos at the polls.

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