When the Pima GOP decided to train and send election observers to the early election board for the Marana, Sahuarita and South Tucson elections this week, many people were skeptical as to why bother in a non-partisan race. The election integrity volunteer coordinator for the GOP, Karen Schutte explained, “we want all elections to be fair, it doesn’t matter whether there’s Republicans running or not, we need observers there.”
The political parties are responsible for overseeing elections in Arizona, even non-partisan ones, but everyone agreed this would be a relatively calm election compared to last November.
Turned out that it was not so calm, but extremely casual.
Votes were sequestered in yesterday’s election due to concerns about ballots appearing to come from abandoned houses.
Voters sign an affidavit on their mail-in ballot stating that they do indeed reside at the address where they are registered to vote; when they move they need to re-register to vote.
One observer reported votes being returned from the address of an abandoned house in his neighborhood. The Pima County Division of Elections received photos of the house in question.
James Kelley expressed concerns when he noticed a couple of ballots whose affadavit signatures appear to have a felt tip pen signature on top of a penciled signature. Kelley asked that these ballots be sequestered for further investigation.
“I am very pleased with the response of Brad Nelson, the Director of the Elections Commission, who took my concerns seriously and helped me to make the formal written communication by e-mail to F Ann Rodriguez, our County Recorder,” said Kelley. “I expect the incident will be fully investigated to all parties satisfaction.”
When he noticed a felt marker signature over pencil, his attention was drawn to the ballots, and he then asked that these ballots be sequestered for further investigation. The Pima County Division of Elections was more than happy to oblige.
Of the 8 poll workers stationed at the Sam Lena library 6 were members of a single family. Father, mother, three daughters and a granddaughter served to ensure a fair election. When one observer inquired as to which member of the family was the opposing party member, the mother turned to female family members and asked, “which one of you is the Republican again?”
“So much for a quiet, uneventful election day in South Tucson. For these reasons we continue to train and send election observers to the early boards and polling places,” says Schutte. “Most people never see this side of our democratic process in action. They never bother to see what happens with their ballot once it is dropped into the mailbox or ballot box. Everyone should be encouraged to get involved with the political party of their choice to become an election observer and/or poll challenger, only then can we assure everyone’s vote will be counted.”