This election day, Arizonans will
decide who can vote in future elections — and what
they’ll have to bring with them to the polls. Proposition
200, or the Arizona Tax Payer and Citizen Protection Act
initiative, would prevent noncitizens from voting, require all
voters to present identification at the polls, and also require
state and local employees to notify federal authorities if a
“suspected undocumented immigrant” seeks public benefits, such as
social services or schooling. The Washington, D.C.-based Federation
for American Immigration Reform has backed the proposition, while
the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund has vowed a
legal challenge if the measure passes.
Utah is the land of red-rock canyons and great skiing
— and it could soon have cleaner rivers and more
open space, too. If passed, Initiative 1 would allow the state to
borrow $150 million in bonds and direct that money toward the
preservation of farms, ranches, historical sites and wildlife
habitat, as well as natural history and cultural museums and
stream-restoration projects. The debt from the bonds would be paid
back with a one-twentieth of 1 cent increase in statewide sales and
use tax.
It’s final — at
least for now — that Ralph Nader can run as an
independent candidate for president in New Mexico, where he
received 4 percent of the state vote during the 2000 presidential
election. After the secretary of state approved Nader’s name
on the ballot, the state’s Democratic Party sued, challenging
his candidacy. Two state judges ruled in favor of the Democrats,
saying Nader didn’t qualify as an “independent” candidate
because he was running as the nominee for minor parties, such as
the Reform Party, in other states. But at the end of September, the
state Supreme Court ordered his name to be printed on the
ballot.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Racetrack.
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