Group: Illegal Immigrants Trying to Steal Election

Arpaio cuts ties with anti-amnesty group

Updated: Friday, 29 Oct 2010, 10:22 PM MDT
Published : Friday, 29 Oct 2010, 10:22 PM MDT

PHOENIX - Sheriff Joe Arpaio is speaking out about an anti-immigration group who he says piggybacked on his name to claim thousands of illegal immigrants are going to try to vote this Election Day, and that grass roots volunteers will be there to stop them.

An email was sent out by anti-immigration group Ban Amnesty Ban bearing the signature of Sheriff Joe Arpaio. It claimed a grass roots army of volunteers will be at the polls to stop illegal immigrants from voting.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio denies writing the email, and has asked the Tempe-based organization to disassociate themselves from him.

Laura Brown with the Arizona Advocacy Networks says this email is just another effort to intimidate Hispanics from heading to the polls on Election Day.

"We thought oh my goodness not again -- Arizona has such a long history of voter suppression and dirty tricks," she says. "We're very concerned that they're going to go to the polls and harass voters and try to intimidate them."

At one point, Sheriff Joe was co-chairman of Ban Amnesty Now. But he says he never authorized the email to be sent out under his name, and is cutting ties with the group.

But that may not stop some immigration opponents to head to the polls and intimidate voters.

"We seen people show up at the polls with their firearms exposed and asking people where they live and if they have ID," she says.

The email's claim that thousands of illegal immigrants will head to the polls is just ridiculous, Brown says.

"This wild idea that undocumented people are crossing the desert so they can decide who is going to be our next corporation commissioner… anybody who uses their common sense knows that ridiculous and study after study has shown that voter fraud is extremely rare."

The Arizona Advocacy Network has asked the Department of Justice to send monitors to the polls. They're also organizing a group of volunteers that will stand out at polling places to make sure voters aren't harassed.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/im ... 10-29-2010