Prop. 200 foes not giving up: NAACP, others warn of peril to minority rights

Arizona voters approved it and the U.S. Department of Justice gave it a green light, but opponents of Proposition 200 aren't ready to give up the fight. A coalition of community groups is vowing to continue battling a law they consider discriminatory toward immigrants, Hispanics and other people of color. "The fight ain't over till we win," Clarence Boykins of the NAACP said Monday at a Tucson press conference. The coalition's first objective is to persuade the Department of Justice to reverse a preliminary decision that the proposition does not harm minority voting rights. The Jan. 24 decision, issued by the voting section of the department's Civil Rights Division, made Arizona the first state to require proof of citizenship for voter registration. It also requires voters to show identification before casting a ballot. Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias accused the department of ignoring the fact that few if any cases of voting by noncitizens in Arizona can be confirmed. Without being able to prove that, the District 5 Democrat said, "what is this really about?" Elias predicted the ID requirement invites racial profiling at polling places and that Hispanics and Indians would be treated differently from other voters. Potentially even more far-reaching is the impact the proof-of-citizenship requirement would have on grass-roots voter registration drives organized by activists, civic organizations and political parties. "Clipboard registration is going to go out the window," Elias said.  [more]