2016 Arizona Republican presidential primary explained

See main article: 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries.

See main article: 2016 Arizona presidential primary.

Election Name:2016 Arizona Republican presidential primary
Country:Arizona
Type:primary
Ongoing:no
Election Date:March 22, 2016
Previous Election:2012 Arizona Republican primary
Previous Year:2012
Next Election:2020 Arizona Republican primary
Next Year:2020
Candidate1:Donald Trump
Color1:283681
Home State1:New York
Delegate Count1:58
Popular Vote1:286,741
Percentage1:45.95%
Candidate2:Ted Cruz
Color2:DAA520
Home State2:Texas
Delegate Count2:0
Popular Vote2:172,294
Percentage2:27.61%
Candidate4:Marco Rubio
(withdrawn)
Color4:C60E3B
Home State4:Florida
Delegate Count4:0
Popular Vote4:72,304
Percentage4:11.59%
Candidate5:John Kasich
Color5:29AB87
Home State5:Ohio
Delegate Count5:0
Popular Vote5:65,965
Percentage5:10.57%
Map Size:250x250px
Elected Members:UT
Outgoing Members:AS
Votes For Election:58 pledged delegates to the Republican National Convention

The 2016 Arizona Republican presidential primary took place on March 22 in the U.S. state of Arizona as one of the Republican Party's primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Despite a late challenge by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Donald Trump won the primary and netted all 58 delegates in the winner-take-all contest.On the same day were held Democratic and Green primaries in Arizona, as well as Republican and Democratic caucuses in Utah and Idaho Democratic caucus, so the day was dubbed "Western Tuesday" by media.

Voter suppression controversy

There was controversy surrounding the Arizona primary elections of 2016, specifically having to do with the decrease in polling places in Maricopa County from 200 in 2012 to only 60 in 2016, despite the number of registered voters having increased from 300,000 in 2012 to 800,000 in 2016.[1] [2] This decrease in polling places was most pronounced in minority neighborhoods, most notably Latino neighborhoods, with areas like Central Phoenix having only one polling place for 108,000 voters. There were also reports of voters who had been previously registered coming up as unregistered or registered as an independent, making them ineligible to vote in the closed primary. Voters who did manage to vote had to stand in long lines to cast their ballots, some for as long as five hours.[3] Additionally, voters reported being required to vote with a provisional ballot.[4] In 2005, Arizona threw out 27,878 provisional ballots, counting only about 72.5% of the total provisional ballots reported.[5] Taking into account the effects of the Supreme Court's "gutting of the Voting Rights Act",[6] it's unknown what percentage of the provisional ballots were counted in 2016. This was the first election in the state of Arizona since the 2013 Supreme Court decision to strike down Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which would have previously required states with a history of voter discrimination, including Arizona, to receive Federal approval before implementing any changes to voting laws and practices.

Within a day after the election took place on March 22, a petition went viral on the White House petitions site asking the Department of Justice to investigate voter suppression and election fraud in Arizona.[7] The petition reached 100,000 signatures in 40 hours,[8] and as of June 5, 2016, nearly 220,000 people had signed the petition. The White House responded on May 20, 2016. In addition, Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton asked the Justice Department to launch an investigation into the allegations of voter suppression.[9]

The Department of Justice has since launched a federal investigation into the primary.[10]

Results

Results by county

!County!Trump!Cruz
Apache42.96%39.31%
Cochise49.28%30.75%
Coconino37.83%36.63%
Gila52.86%26.41%
Graham39.03%42.40%
Greenlee44.83%37.68%
La Paz66.52%19.12%
Maricopa44.77%26.24%
Mohave64.65%22.40%
Navajo41.08%41.85%
Pima43.25%28.83%
Pinal51.41%27.92%
Santa Cruz45.71%27.12%
Yavapai47.27%30.55%
Yuma48.45%31.09%
TOTAL45.95%27.61%
Source: https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=4&year=2016&f=0&off=0&elect=2

Analysis

Donald Trump won Arizona decisively, netting all 58 delegates and carrying all counties in the state but two. As The New York Times described, "Mr. Trump proved his appeal among immigration hard-liners, who make up a large bloc of Republicans in the border state."[11]

Trump won the populous cities of Phoenix in Maricopa County, and Tucson in Pima County. He enjoyed support from former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, both of whom hold a hard-line stance against immigration. As Eric Bradner of CNN described, "Their decision to side with Trump, and the size of his win, underscores the potency of Trump's build-a-wall plan with the Republican base."[12]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: DOJ looking into voter suppression claims in Arizona. Eugene Scott. CNN. 5 April 2016 . 2016-06-05.
  2. Web site: Arizona primary: Maricopa County had one polling site for every 21,000 voters. azcentral. 2016-06-05.
  3. Web site: Election Other – President Obama Job Approval. RealClearPolitics. March 23, 2016.
  4. News: Clinton's Real Opponent: Barack Obama. May 11, 2015. Politico. Sabato. Larry J.. March 25, 2016.
  5. Web site: Counties inconsistent in provisional-vote rules. Beal. Tom. 29 January 2005. votersunite.org. Arizona Daily Star. March 26, 2016. 5 April 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160405125401/http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=4738. dead.
  6. Web site: Key Provision Of Voting Rights Act Struck Down By Supreme Court. Ryan J.. Reilly. Mike. Sacks. Sabrina. Siddiqui. June 25, 2013. HuffPost.
  7. Web site: Petition to White House about Arizona 'voter suppression' hit goal in about 40 hours. 2016-10-23. 2016-09-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20160912062820/http://www.12news.com/news/politics/petition-to-white-house-about-arizona-voter-suppression-hit-goal-in-about-40-hours/101986939. dead.
  8. Web site: Petition to White House about Arizona 'voter suppression' hit goal in about 40 hours. TEGNA. KPNX. en-US. 2016-06-05. 2016-09-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20160912062820/http://www.12news.com/news/politics/petition-to-white-house-about-arizona-voter-suppression-hit-goal-in-about-40-hours/101986939. dead.
  9. News: What a Rise in Obama's Approval Rating Means for 2016. January 16, 2015. The New York Times. Cohn. Nate. March 25, 2016.
  10. News: The DOJ Is Investigating Arizona's Election Mess. April 4, 2016. The Huffington Post. Reilly. Ryan J.. Lachman. Samantha. April 4, 2016.
  11. News: Clinton and Trump Win Arizona; Cruz Picks Up Utah; Sanders Takes 2. Martin. Jonathan. 2016-03-22. The New York Times. 0362-4331. 2016-10-23.
  12. Web site: 5 takeaways from Western Tuesday. Eric Bradner. CNN. 23 March 2016 . 2016-10-23.