EJ Montini

opinion columnist

Come on, people, even we can do better than this.

And that’s saying something.

By a combination of misjudgment, misplaced priorities and old-fashioned voter suppression, Tuesday’s primary was a disaster.

As reported by The Arizona Republic’s Mary Jo Pitzl, Maricopa County reduced the number of polling places from more than the 200 available for the 2012 presidential election to … 60.

Sixty? Are you kidding me.

The fact that a voter could go to any polling place didn’t matter much when the lines were so long that many people were forced to abandon the line.

I’ve heard from a number of those who stood outside and waited, and waited, and waited.

One of them, Todd Johnson wrote in part, “I was in one of those long lines -- from 4 p.m. to just about 6:40. As we stood, the line just got longer … I saw motivated voters, some with children, trying to fulfill their civic duties. The poll workers were exhausted. The line had been there since 5 in the a.m. and the line only grew in length. My estimate is that if someone were to join before the 7 p.m. cutoff they were looking at a four-hour wait. Call these county officials out!”

Done.

Officials apparently believed that so many of us utilize the mail-in early-voting ballots that there is less demand for in-person voting locations.

Wrong.

At least on Tuesday.

And if that isn’t bad enough, Arizona law already effectively disenfranchises 36 percent of registered voters.

These would be voters who are unaffiliated with any political party. Independent. The only way those individuals can vote in a presidential primary is to re-register with a political party. And they have to do so 29 days before the election.

It’s ridiculous to think that 36 percent of Arizona voters -- can’t vote.

They represent a constituency that is larger than the state’s Democrats.

They represent a constituency that is larger than the state’s Republicans.

How is such exclusion possible?

It should be more and more clear to everyone that Arizona needs to institute an open primary system. Otherwise a plurality of Arizona voters is, essentially, permanently disenfranchised.

It's voter suppression on a massive scale.

An open primary is something that a number of states already have and others are considering. Former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson has been working on the idea for some time, and even now he is heading an open primary campaign that would put all candidates on one ballot for primary elections, regardless of party. Then, the two candidates who receive the most votes would face off in the general election, again, regardless of party.

Every voter in the state gets to participate.

Presuming, of course, there are enough polling places.

Our View: A five-hour wait to vote in Arizona primary? That's shameful

Maricopa County election officials writing off voters? You bet

Allhands: Fat chance getting Arizona to vote local now