They’re still counting votes in Arizona, with a whopping 103,000 provisional ballots yet to be “verified” (Did a Mexican vote this? Throw it away!) in Maricopa county. Even though the provisional ballots are, unsurprisingly, breaking for Democrats, it looks like Sheriff Joe and the ginger prince are going to win. But Ron Barber, who won the special for Gabby Giffords’ seat, who was trailing on election night, is now ahead by 923 votes on the strength of provisional ballots. He’ll probably continue to gain as the 27,000 remaining provisional ballots in Pima County are counted.
I don’t claim to understand Arizona’s voter suppression ritual in full, because part of that provisional ballot count is some even lesser form of ballot called a “conditional provisional” ballot where the voter must come back to show ID:
Wednesday was the last day for people to present proper ID at county offices so that their “conditional provisional” ballot could be counted. That’s a ballot cast by someone lacking the necessary identification under state law.
“We had 1,035 conditional provisional ballots and 55 voters came in with proper identification,” [Maricopa County Spokesperson] Reed explained.
Almost 1,000 voters disenfranchised is a good start, but Arizona Republicans clearly have a lot of work to do.