I VOTED: Because I Can

I voted.

I mean I got off my 85-year-old ass, got into my car and dragged myself to vote in person in the heat. Why did I do this?

Because I wanted to see what the big hoo-hah was about by the Trump Administration. What’s so broken that it requires the SAVE ACT?

Because democracy means a lot to me. I’m an American, and this is the 250th anniversary of my country. I’m not MAGA, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care. For years I took all of this for granted, but now I can tell you the facts about voting, at least about my state. And states control elections.

The Trump administration is trying to tell us that our voting is not secure. Remember all those Cyber Ninja audits, the virtual hanging of Stephen Richer, and the impounding of our voting machines that supposedly connected to the internet -- forcing us to get all new machines? That was crap.

Now I know. I mean I REALLY know. Does Arizona have non-citizens voting? The answer is no. You have to show proof of citizenship when you register to vote, even if you do it online. Undocumented people getting drivers’ licenses and voting? Another no. You must show a green card, a work permit, or another document that shows you are legally entitled to be here to get a drivers’ license..

In the late 90s, we rolled out a website called Service Arizona. It was made to automate simple transactions from the MVD, such as renewing car registrations. By 2002, we expanded it to allow people to register to vote online as well. And now that’s the way we do it. You can go to ServiceArizona and renew your vehicle registration and your voter registration at the same time. The site has been a hit for the last 25 years. The back of your driver’s license is barcoded, and when you walk into a voting location, the volunteer scans the back of your license for the barcode to find out if you are truly registered. The computer also requires a signature, which later will be matched to the signature on your ballot envelope.

(I have been on the Permanent Early Voting List for years, and a ballot is usually mailed to my home address. But I left the Democratic Party several years ago so I didn’t receive a primary ballot this year.)

Thus, the first thing I found out is that our state does not mail out ballots to everyone, which is an accusation the Administration has used to make mail-in voting seem sleazy.

If you are a Republican or a Democrat, you automatically get a ballot. If you are independent, you can request a ballot for one of the parties. This year there were three ballots: Republican, Democrat, and No Labels. No Labels is former Mayor Paul Johnson’s effort to start an actual Independent Party. There are more than 46,246 people registered as No Labels, but there are 1,490,185 people registered as Other. These are the Independents. (I’m using the Secretary of State’s numbers here. )

In an open primary, “Other” can request a ballot. The ballots are then mailed out to the address you use for the Motor Vehicle Division.

When you walk into a voting location, after your drivers license or other ID is scanned into the computer, a ballot is created especially for you. It contains your personal legislative district, Congressional District, City Council District and school district. Because the ballots contain so many different elections, it’s very difficult to confuse them.

You fill out the ballot, and then drop it in a box at the back of the room. Electoral volunteers aren’t even allowed to touch the ballot. You then put it in an envelope and sign the back of the envelope and then your signature is matched to the one you signed on the computer when you entered the room.

I also learned from my personal appearance that 1) elections officials are very carefully trained and take their responsibilities very seriously 2) at least in downtown Phoenix, they were overwhelmingly minorities, heavily invested in their right to vote because they lack “white privilege.”

Last, learned that there is absolutely no difference between voting by mail and voting in person besides the trip downtown. The exact same procedures are followed -- even the text messages that tell you when your ballot has been received, and when it has been counted.

However, this morning I found out that the State of New Jersey, which also keeps its voter records in the DMV database, discovered 6600 non-citizens who were accidentally registered to vote due to a “software glitch.”

BUT: as of now we have a law permitting people to show documents (like a passport or birth certificate) to register to vote. In local areas like Phoenix/Maricopa County, Arizona, voters who register without them are given a “Federal-Only” ballot until their citizenship documents are provided. the Supreme Court could either strengthen states’ hand (letting Arizona extend DPOC to the federal form and revive systematic noncitizen removal) or narrow it. And the stakes are high: the order opens the door to the possibility that more than 43,000 Arizonans who are currently registered to vote could lose that right, which is the flip side critics emphasize: the same documentary-proof rigor that makes a New Jersey-style glitch unlikely also sweeps in eligible citizens who can’t readily produce paperwork.