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Update:
- A lawsuit filed by four members of the Navajo Nation seeking to ease Arizona’s deadline for mail-in ballots ahead of the 2020 election has been dismissed.
- A judgment of dismissal for the lawsuit brought against Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in August 2020 was filed in an Arizona federal court Jan. 6, 2021. No reason was given for the dismissal.
- The lawsuit was filed in response to the U.S. Postal Service recommendation that a mail-in ballot be sent at least 15 days before Election Day to ensure it can be returned in time to meet state deadlines.
- The plaintiffs argued this assumes that everyone has equal access to mail service, which was not the case, especially during the height of the pandemic.
- The Navajo Nation members argued “hundreds of thousands of rural Americans have non-standard mail service burdened with a range of service limits including irregular service or unreliable service, no residential delivery, excessive distances to post offices or other postal providers with limited hours of operation among other issues.”
(Aug. 27, 2020)
Four members of the Navajo Nation have filed a lawsuit seeking to ease Arizona’s deadline for mail-in ballots.
The plaintiffs have named Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs as the defendant, and allege that the state’s requirement that mailed ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day in order to be counted violates their constitutional rights.
The Navajo Nation is a federally recognized tribe that has a “government-to-government relationship” with the U.S., according to the lawsuit.
The Navajo Nation Reservation, which consists of more than 13 million acres, stretches throughout three counties in Arizona and 13 counties in Utah and New Mexico, the lawsuit says. More than 100,000 people live on the Arizona portion, about 67,000 of whom are of voting age.
The plaintiffs are concerned because of recent actions taken by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy that have apparently caused mail processing delays.
Complicating matters is the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused an “extraordinary increase in voting by mail,” the plaintiffs claim. Mail-in voting increased by 1,000% during the Iowa primary, and nearly 500% in South Dakota.
According to the plaintiffs, the U.S. Postal Service recommends requesting a mail-in ballot at least 15 days before Election Day to ensure it can be returned in time to meet state deadlines.
However, they argue, this assumes that everyone has equal access to mail service, which is not the case.
The Navajo Nation members say “hundreds of thousands of rural Americans have non-standard mail service burdened with a range of service limits including irregular service or unreliable service, no residential delivery, excessive distances to post offices or other postal providers with limited hours of operation among other issues.”
On top of that, the plaintiffs say tribal members living on the Arizona portion of the Navajo Nation Reservation have even more restricted access than “non-Indian” Arizona voters due to a lack of standard mail service and nonstandard addresses.
“Services by the U.S. Postal Service are limited in Indian Country because of the poor quality of the road systems on Indian reservations and many of the roads are unnamed,” the lawsuit says. “A significant number of these reservation residents have no traditional street addresses.
The Navajo Nation members say their 14th Amendment rights are being violated because the defendant has “no legitimate, non-racial reason” for rejecting vote-by-mail ballots from tribal members that are postmarked on or before Election Day.
Likewise, they claim their rights under the Arizona Constitution are being violated by the state’s actions depriving them of equal elections by “arbitrarily refusing to count” their mailed ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 provides that “no voting qualification or prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision in a manner which results in a denial or [abridgment] of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color,” the lawsuit states.
The plaintiffs allege Arizona’s failure to count their appropriately postmarked ballots denies members of the federally recognized tribe the same rights as others in terms of participation in the political process.
Defendant Hobbs defended her position, saying she is powerless to make changes, according to Tucson.com.
“The deadline is set by state law,” Hobbs said, adding that was the reason she’s been trying to do outreach to explain voters’ options and deadlines especially in areas without “consistent postal service.”
According to The Hill, the Supreme Court has largely sided with the states imposing voting restrictions.
The plaintiffs are asking the Court to declare that the defendant’s failure to count mailed ballots sent by on-reservation tribal members and postmarked on or before Election Day violates the 14th Amendment, the Voting Rights Act and the Arizona Constitution.
Specifically regarding the upcoming presidential election, the plaintiffs are asking the Court to order the defendant to count vote-by-mail ballots postmarked by Election Day and “received on or before” Nov. 13.
They also seek an order that the defendant count vote-by-mail ballots cast by tribal members living on reservations as long as the ballots are postmarked on or before Election Day for all future elections.
In addition, they ask for an award of attorneys’ fees and court costs, and any additional relief the Court may deem proper.
Do you believe Arizona’s deadline for mail-in ballots to be counted should be extended? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiffs are represented by Michael J. Novotny of Big Fire Law & Policy Group LLP.
The Navajo Nation Vote-By-Mail Deadline Lawsuit is Darlene Yazzie, et al. v. Katie Hobbs, in her official capacity as Secretary of State for the State of Arizona, Case No. 3:20-cv-08222-GMS, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.
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