August 27, 2020
Media Contact: OJ Semans email: tateota@hotmail.com cell: 605-828-1422
Phoenix, AZ – Four Directions, Inc., a national Native American voting rights organization, assisted Navajo Nation Members in filing a Voting Rights complaint to secure equal access to absentee voting by mail.
Navajo Nation Members have 40 to 70% fewer days to cast their ballots after they receive them than other non-Indian Arizona voters. The data shows that many Navajo Nation Members who request an absentee ballot on October 23 (which is their right under Arizona law) will not receive it in time to consider, mark, and mail that it back, and have it in the possession of the county recorder’s office by 7:00 pm on Election Day, November 3, 2020 – as per current law.
“Compare especially Navajo Nation Members utilizing the postal provider in Dinnehotso, AZ. Certified First Class mail takes 10 days (20 days roundtrip) to reach the county recorder’s office. Secretary Hobbs has said that Arizona voters have 27 days to vote by mail. For Native voters using the Dinnehotso location, they have only 7 days to consider, mark, and return their ballot via the mail – if they requested a ballot prior to October 7,” said OJ Semans, Four Directions, Inc Executive Director.
Four Directions has assembled a litigation team to assist Navajo Nation Members in their request of Secretary Hobbs for a simple and costless remedy – by accepting absentee ballots postmarked on or by Election Day and received by the close of business on the 10th day after the election. “In addition to Attorney Chris McClure, who contacted Secretary Hobbs on August 17th, we engaged the well respected 100% Native-owned law firm Big Fire Law and Policy Group to serve as local Arizona counsel,” said Semans. Four Directions is financing the lawsuit.
“We are especially proud to bring our partners at Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California to the team for the development of the expert report that proves the unlawful, unequal access for the plaintiffs to vote by mail. Dr. Jean Schroedel and her experienced research team moved heaven and earth to quickly analyze and assemble the important data needed. We thank CGU for their service in the pursuit of equal access to the ballot box for Indian Country,” said Semans.
“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. While we are disappointed that Secretary Hobbs failed to communicate with Attorney McClure, we remain hopeful that she will move quickly to bring Arizona into compliance with the Voting Rights Act,” said Semans.
Complaint can be found here: http://www.fourdirectionsvote.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/signed-Complaint.pdf
