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Disabled vet claims city kept him from voting

TUCSON, Ariz. — A disabled veteran says the city of Tucson prevented him from exercising his right to vote last year.

Frank Vallejo, 48, filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city Sept. 15.

Vallejo’s attorney, Paul Gattone, said his client is suing former City Clerk Kathleen Detrick, City Clerk administrator Veronica Sainz and John D. Decker, an election poll site supervisor.

According to the lawsuit, Vallejo went to his local polling place Nov. 6 to cast a ballot in Tucson’s general election.

Vallejo showed a poll worker his military ID, which didn’t have an address. The worker asked for an Arizona driver’s license, but Vallejo said it didn’t have his current address.

The worker consulted with Decker, who agreed with the poll worker that Vallejo’s military ID was not enough and the veteran would not be allowed to cast his ballot, according to the suit.

No alternative was offered, the lawsuit says, other than to deny him his right to vote.

Arizona’s voter ID law requires each voter to show government-issued photo identification with the person’s name and address on it before receiving a ballot. In lieu of that, a voter must provide two other forms of ID that include the person’s name and address, such as utility bills, bank statements and voter registration cards.

A voter lacking proper ID must receive a provisional ballot. Depending on the type of election, the voter has either three or five business days to return with proper identification to have his or her ballot counted.

The lawsuit asks the court to issue an order declaring the city of Tucson violated Vallejo’s right to vote; prevent similar denials of qualified electors the right to vote in future elections; pay general and punitive damages to be determined and cover costs of the suit and attorney’s fees.

The city has not responded to the lawsuit.