Friday, November 12, 2010

Hispanic civil rights group seeks to force provisional ballot count

An organization that convinced federal judges last month to toss out Arizona's proof-of-citizenship requirement to register to vote now is seeking a court order that could further delay a final count on Tuesday's election.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund late Friday asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to order officials in the state's 15 counties to count the votes of those who cast "provisional ballots'' because they did not show up on the voter registration rolls. And the reason they didn't show up on the rolls is that they didn't get registered because they didn't provide proof of U.S. citizenship as required by a 2004 voter-approved Arizona law.

On Oct. 26, though, the appellate court declared that requirement invalid. Based on that, MALDEF attorney Nina Perales said those who were wrongfully denied registration should have their votes counted...

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