Mary Jo Pitzl

The Republic | azcentral.com

Arizona's election practices have consistently violated the voting rights of its residents, particularly minorities, the national Democratic Party charges in a lawsuit intended to change the way the November general election is conducted.

The Democrats cite the long lines from last month's presidential preference election as emblematic of voter disenfranchisement in Maricopa County. But their complaints, outlined in a lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, don't stop there. They argue Arizona's disparate treatment of provisional ballots, as well as a recently passed law that bars people from returning another voter's mail-in ballot, are further examples of other election practices that disenfranchise voters, especially minorities.

"Republicans are using every tool, every legal loophole and every fear tactic they can think of to take aim at voting rights wherever they can," Florida congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement.

Joining the DNC in the suit are numerous Arizonans who waited in long lines last month, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and the Senate campaign of U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick. The campaigns of presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have said they will join the suit.

"(This) action is about representing every Arizona voter who stood in line for far too long or was forced to go home without casting a ballot," Kirkpatrick said in a statement.

Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo, who is among the people being sued, said he welcomes the litigation.

Gallardo, the sole Democrat on the five-member Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, said the county needs to do more public outreach as it prepares for elections.

"We need federal oversight," Gallardo said. "We need a second set of eyes on it (the election process)."

He said he is trying to provide that oversight by reaching out to minority communities and community groups for input about the polling locations for the upcoming May 17 statewide special election.

The lawsuit notes Arizona lost federal oversight after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2013 removed the state from the pre-clearance obligations of the Voting Rights Act. Before then, changes to Arizona voting practices had to be OK'd by the U.S. Department of Justice.

"In the less than three years that have passed since...voters in general and minority voters in particular have not fared well in Arizona," the complaint states, as it lists numerous cases where Arizona's laws and practices made voting difficult.

The lawsuit asks the court to require Maricopa County to submit all its polling locations for the November general election to the court for review, to ensure the plan would not discriminate against minority voters. It also asks the court to bar election officials from rejecting provisional ballots that are not cast in the voter's home precinct and to block enactment of the ballot-collection ban.

The new ballot-collection law, which Gov. Doug Ducey signed last month, makes it a felony for someone to take another voter's mail-in ballot to the polls, with exceptions for family members and caregivers. It will be in effect for the November election.

The plaintiffs are eyeing the November election, where Democrats say they fear unfair voting practices could suppress the vote.

The lawsuit names as defendants the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, all five supervisors, county recorder Helen Purcell, county elections director Karen Osborne, Secretary of State Michele Reagan, the Secretary of State's office and Attorney General Mark Brnovich.

Reagan's office said she welcomes anything that might aid in her efforts to fix what went wrong with last month's election. She is conducting a series of hearings around the state to help map policies that will prevent any repeat of the long lines and voter confusion.

Maricopa County cut the number of polling places to 60 from the 200 that were in place for the previous presidential preference election. County officials said they estimated with polls open to voters from any address, instead of being restricted to a given precinct, as well as the county's tendency to use mail-in ballots, 60 sites would suffice.

When voters showed up, long lines formed, compounded by problems with casting provisional ballots. Those are required when elections officials can't verify a voter's information. Independents, by law, were not allowed to vote in the preference election, leading to widespread confusion.

Complaints abounded about the presidential preference election, said Chris Sautter, an attorney for the Sanders campaign.

"We heard from literally over 1,000 Sanders voters following the March 22 primary, complaining about either having to vote by provisional ballot when they had voter-registration cards, or when they had to wait in line for over five hours, or they couldn’t wait in line that long," he said.

Sautter added the Sanders campaign contemplated a federal lawsuit last week when it decided against filing a contest to the election results. A state election contest would not address the issues the DNC complaint appears to be addressing, he said.

Tucson resident John Brakey filed an election contest last Friday, seeking to overturn the March 22 results, which resulted in wins for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. A preliminary hearing is set for Tuesday in Maricopa County Superior Court.

Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter, @maryjpitzl.