August 18, 2020
Media Contact: OJ Semans email: tateota@hotmail.com cell: 605-828-1422
Teec Nos Pos, AZ, Navajo Nation – Four Directions, Inc., a national Native American voting rights organization, is assisting Navajo Nation Members to secure equal access to absentee vote-by-mail from Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. Four Directions conducted an in-the-field test of mail delivery times and routes by sending memoranda by four different classes of mail from various postal locations across the Navajo Nation.
The resultant data shows that Navajo Nation Members have many fewer days to cast their ballot when they receive it. The data shows that Navajo Nation Members who request an absentee ballot on October 23 (which is their right under Arizona law) will not receive their ballot in time to mark, cast, and mail their ballot back and have it in the possession of the county recorder’s office by 7:00 pm on Election Day, November 3, 2020 as required under current Arizona law.
While it takes only one day for certified first-class mail to travel from Scottsdale, AZ to the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office in Phoenix, AZ; from St. Johns, AZ to the Apache County Recorder’s Office in St. Johns, AZ; from Holbrook, AZ to the Navajo County Recorder’s Office in Holbrook, AZ; and from Flagstaff, AZ to the Coconino Recorder’s Office in Flagstaff, AZ; data shows that certified mail sent from locations on Navajo Nation take 5 to 6 days to be delivered to the respective county recorder’s offices.
Four Directions, Inc. has assembled a legal and expert team to assist Navajo Nation Members in their request of Secretary Hobbs for a simple and costless remedy – accept absentee ballots postmarked on or by Election Day and received by the close of business on the 10th day after the election. Attorney Chris McClure, on behalf of his clients, emailed the attached request to Arizona Secretary Hobbs yesterday.
“We believe that the unequal access to vote-by-mail is an unlawful abridgement of the right to vote of Navajo Nation Members as per Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. We urge Secretary Hobbs to take immediate action and agree to the relief outlined in the letter from Attorney McClure,” said OJ Semans, Four Directions co-Executive Director.
http://www.fourdirectionsvote.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/August-18-2020-Media-Packet.pdf
