Notorious Arizona County Providing Wrong Election Date In Spanish, Correct Date In English

By on October 24, 2012 in News 26

Arizona’s Maricopa County is home to sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose controversial (to put it mildly) record includes unconstitutionally awful conditions in the local jails, reinstituting prisoner chain gangs, terrorizing Latino residents, and staging an assassination plot against himself.

Arpaio is in danger of being voted out of office in two weeks, but county election officials are giving him some help, ABC 15 in Arizona reports:

A spokesperson for the Maricopa County Elections Department admits they once again gave voters the wrong date of next month’s election.

Yvonne Reed confirms to ABC15 that bookmarks distributed by the elections department incorrectly listed the date of the general election in Spanish as November 8. The flip side of the bookmark correctly lists the date in English as November 6.

ABC15 exposed a similar mistake by the Maricopa County Elections Department last week on a voter ID document. The document, like the bookmark, also listed the date of the general election in Spanish as November 8, but November 6 in English.

Reed, Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell’s spokesperson, says the error was not intentional but rather simply yet another mistake.

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  • Allen

    If you can’t read or speak English then you have no business voting anyways.

    • Andrew

      Does that include people who can’t tell the difference between 6 and 8?

    • Jin The Ninja

      i rather think, being monolingual, is somewhat limiting and not a topic of polite discussion.
      your personal ignorance is not an excuse for the disenfranchisement of legal voters.

      • http://www.facebook.com/eric.fischer.73 Eric Fischer

        Does the above statement still apply for a monolingual person in the U.S. who only speaks Spanish? (although I do tend to agree that being multilingual is objectively better than being monolingual)

        • Jin The Ninja

          i said ‘being monolingual is somewhat limiting.’ that doesn’t refer to any particular group of speakers; however, english-speaking westerners have a particularly virulent expectation for non-english speakers to learn THEIR language. did you know there are hundreds of thousands of AMERICAN aboriginal people born between 1925-1970 WHOM ONLY speak their indigenous language? i don’t fault people for being monolingual (because that would be just as a bad as the OP), but i fault practices that engender disenfranchisement in totality.

          • Hadrian999

            I believe if someone travels to another country it is their responsibility to learn the language if they want to get along, though encouraging people to multilingual is a great idea.It is also important for outreach programs to help new arrivals learn a functional level of the local language. New immigrants who are cut off from the parent culture don’t do anyone any good. In parts of the U.S. it is very hard to learn and retain a foreign language though maybe less difficult in the internet age. Nothing drives me quite so crazy as videos of “ugly americans” freaking out because people in places they vacation don’t speak English. I want to learn another language but I’m not sure I’ll be able to with the state of my hearing.

          • http://www.facebook.com/eric.fischer.73 Eric Fischer

            There’s a BIG difference between American Indians who are native to the U.S. and immigrants who moved here.

            As an English-speaking westerner myself, I would consider it the height of arrogance and bad manners to go to a foreign nation and expect them to bend over backwards to accommodate my monolinguism, ESPECIALLY if I was seeking citizenship in that country. I see nothing wrong with endorsing the same policy in my own country.

            Arpaio is a total POS, and the particular tactic revealed in this article is slimy. However, Indians living on the Res are the ONLY ones who are entitled to an exemption from being required to read and write in English to vote.

    • VaudeVillain

      Why not?

    • 4451Htop

      I agree 100%. How can anyone think your wrong for making that statement? You have to understand English to make an informed decision when voting. I don’t want people voting for someone when they can’t even understand them. You guys are retarded if you think a bunch of people who can’t speak or read the primary language of a country should have the right to vote in that country. Assimilate or GTFO!

  • Liam_McGonagle

    “Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell’s spokesperson, says the error was not intentional but rather simply yet another mistake.”
    She must be a rocket scientist just like Arpaio. Who the hell honestly ‘thought’ that the Spanish for 6 November would read ’8 Noviembre’?

    • Jin The Ninja

      if that “genuinely” was a “mistake” then not only would it have “mistakenly” robbed people of their right to vote, but also it was so deeply retarded that whomever wrote it should not be claiming “spanish proefficiency” on their CV (a fire-able offense). i think it’s much less embarrassing for them to just admit they are racist and fascist, at least that would show some kind of integrity of ideology.

  • some1simple

    I would like to see your remark regarding “unconstitutionally awful conditions” of the jails this gentleman runs supported by at least some shred of evidence or clearly phrased as your own opinion. As far as I know there has only been one case that deals with medical rights in the jail, but that does not mean the jail is unconstitutional, only the medical treatment. Please save your loaded single sided comments for you own blog.

    • Matt Staggs

      http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/May/12-crt-602.html
      You’re a guest here. Feel free to criticize Mr. Sloan’s assertions, but If you’re interested in moderating or editing content, then I suggest you “save it for your own blog.”

      • VaudeVillain

        What a gentleman, you Googled for him AND refrained from using profanity.

        I would have just told him to get bent.

  • Fransico Person

    The ballots should be in “English only” to begin with. Whoever thought that they should include spanish with English and no other languages was a racist. Why not include every language known to man? Wouldn’t want to disenfranchise anyone now would we.

    There is good reason for a predominant language being spoken in any country, America happens to be English. Learn it, make it easier on society as a whole.

    • nobomney2012

      Who downvotes this? If I moved to Brazil I wouldn’t expect everything to be catered to me in english, i’d fucking learn Portuguese so I could assimilate. Immigrants, please come here, but learn the fucking language. My ancestors did and so should you.

      • Andrew

        His comment indicates to me that he already knows English.

        Also, if Brazil invaded and conquered America, I’d demand they cater to English speakers.

        • http://www.facebook.com/eric.fischer.73 Eric Fischer

          If Brazil invaded and conquered America, you wouldn’t be in any position to “demand” anything. More like “pretty please.”
          If you think American cops are bad, try getting out of line in Rio. Or better yet, DON’T.

          • Andrew

            That attitude is a tad servile for my tastes. If the Founding Fathers thought that way, etc. etc.

    • VaudeVillain

      So it’s racist to include Spanish, but entirely proper to include only English?

      Out of curiosity, how well do you know English? The (very short) article above clearly states that it refers to bookmark and a voter identification notice, ballots are not included.

      It would be a much better world if every ignorant jag who thinks God descended upon Washington and declared English the only language to be used in the US at least had the common decency to know and understand the language they seem to have such a hard on for. Damned morans.

      • nobomney2012

        American English has been the predominant spoken language in this country since it’s inception and is the official language of 28 states(albeit these rulings do have racist roots). My grandparents came here speaking only Lithuanian and worked hard to learn the language so they could properly assimilate into the culture. Were there ballots catering to them? Fuck no and rightfully so. As I stated before, immigrants please come on over here, you’re what made this country what it is. Just learn the language so you can properly integrate.

        • nobomney2012

          BTW I used ballots just as an example here I know it wasn’t in the article.

    • poponhop

      are you pretending? to be spanish then misspelled your own name? Francisco or you are a sico?

  • Neo Washington

    The DOJ is flexing it’s muscle to intimidate Sheriff Joe. If the majority of the crime in your community is committed by green aliens, then you would tend to deal more with green aliens, ie: pull over more green aliens. It’s simple, his town is over run with illegal aliens and hispanic gangs, hispanic drug dealers, that’s where the crime is coming from. Not to mention that if you are illegal you ARE a criminal by definition.

    Who cares, lets get the party started, throw these assholes out of the white house, out of the senate, out of congress and out of the supreme court. The few will not control the many forever.

  • BuzzCoastin

    OMG, Hispanics were almost deceived
    and wouldn’t have been able to vote in fake, rigged election
    if they hadn’t noticed that the Anglos were voting 2 days earlier

    no one should be deprived of their right to vote
    for one of the two corporate candidates of their choice

  • auto5734955

    To those of you who in some manner said speak the tongue or go home……..I bet your ancestors came to the USA able to speak perfectly the “NATIVE” dialects right? a$$holes you should GTFHome.