Men With Guns Harass Latino Voters

Poll Watcher: Latino Voters Harrassed in AZ

By Justin Rood - November 7, 2006, 2:15 PM

I just spoke with a Latino election monitor in Arizona who said that a trio of men, one with a handgun visible, is harrassing Latino voters as they go to the polls in Tucson, Ariz.

Nina Perales, a senior poll-watcher for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), called me from Tucson's Iglesia Bautista precinct, where the three men are approaching Latino voters and videotaping them on their way to vote.

"As voters are coming out of their cars and walking up towards their polls, one person is videotaping the voter as he walks towards the polling place," she said. Then another person, wearing an American flag bandana and a shirt with the image of a badge ironed or embroidered on it, approaches with a clipboard to talk to the voter. "While the clipboard person is. . .talking to [the voter], the cameraperson comes up and starts videotaping their face," Perales said.

As this happens, the third man -- with a gun visible in a sideholster -- stands next to the voter. According to Perales, he is wearing a shirt with an American flag on it, and camouflage shorts.

The men only approach Latino voters, she said, and noted they have been doing so since early this morning.

Perales' group has contacted the Department of Justice and the FBI. The Feds have asked her group to keep an eye on the situation.

Perales said her group has been monitoring other polling places in the city and throughout Arizona, and this was the only instance of voter intimidation she was aware of.
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