Carolyn's Community

If you care about election integrity in our own Pima County, mark your calendars for Monday, November 16. “Fatally Flawed” premiered at the Loft Theater on September 16, and exactly two months later it will be at the Crossroads Theater, 4811 E. Grant Rd. at 7 p.m. Admission is only $3. See Off the Marquee’s blog about this movie on 9/11.

“Fatally Flawed” by Tucsonan J.T. Waldron documents the investigation spearheaded by the Pima County Democratic Party and their attorney Bill Risner, with the assistance of election integrity advocates John Brakey (Audit AZ) and Libertarian Jim March (Black Box Voting). These three men became obsessed with seeking the truth about the May 2006 RTA Election that authorized a sales tax increase totaling $2 Billion to fund the Regional Transportation Authority. You can read about the events leading up to making of the film at www.fatallyflawedthemovie.com.

“The film allows you watch events as they unfold through the eyes of seasoned lawyer and activist Bill Risner. As the story develops, it becomes evident that what initially appeared to be a public mandate to expand the city’s roads was a likely case of election fraud. At every step of the way, citizens seeking answers are met with resistance from election facilitators, local politicians and even the state’s own attorney general. Persistent unanswered questions generated by the lawsuit and new evidence of wrongdoing on the part of elections division personnel led to an equally suspicious investigation by the Arizona attorney general. This investigation culminated in a recount conducted under conditions that made meaningful public oversight impossible.” (from the movie website)

I sat in on the Tucson Citizen editorial board meeting (as a “My Tucson” columnist) when these three men came to present their findings in 2008, and I saw the movie’s premier on September 16, which was well attended. Many local Tucsonans are seen in this movie, including attorney Vince Rabago, then Chair of the Pima County Democratic Party, activist Mike Hayes of the Campbell/Grant Northeast Neighborhood Association, and Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll at their board meeting fighting for transparency in releasing election data files.

If you can’t attend the movie, the cost of the DVD is $25 online.

movie poster

Seeing this locally produced documentary on the big screen is worth the price of only $3. This second showing is sponsored by an independent Tucson group called Voices of Opposition (to War, Racism and Oppression). The Crossroads 6 Grand Cinemas is located on the NE corner of Grant and Swan, behind the Fry’s shopping center.

For updated 2009 General Election results go to: www.pima.gov/elections, click on “results” for the November 3rd election in the City of Tucson.

These are the winning results with 98.9% of the precincts reporting (but subject to change and updating due to close vote margins):

Council seat Ward 3: incumbent Karin Uhlich (D) leading by 573 votes

Council seat Ward 5: Richard Fimbres (D)

Council seat Ward 6: Steve Kozachik (R) leading by 1199 votes

At first Proposition 400 (the Home Rule option) was winning at 10 p.m. but now it is trailing by 622 votes.

With the vote margin so close in Wards 3 and 6, the final winner may not be known for a few days as Pima County Elections counts the remainder of the Early ballots and Provisional ballots.

Congratulations to all the winners and to both the Pima County Democratic Party and the Pima County Republican Party for their hard campaign work.

Here’s some Interesting updated stats from the Pima County Recorder’s Office on voter registration.

Note: the “Others” are the growing number (almost 63,000) of Independent voters in the six City of Tucson wards.