Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske’s office denied a request from nine Nevada tribes asking for early polling locations, citing logistical issues with the election so close.
The nine tribes made their request Oct. 21 on the heels of a ruling from a federal judge in a suit filed by the Pyramid Lake and Walker River Paiutes. That suit found there was an undue burden on Native Americans in terms of early and Election Day polling.
Federal Judge Miranda Du found the lengthy trip Native Americans had to take to polling sites violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Nine more tribes sent a letter via the Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada to Cegavske’s office requesting she order several counties to provide early polling sites on reservations.
In her response letter, Cegavske said with the election less than two weeks away, accommodating the tribes wasn’t feasible.
“Based upon our discussions with each of the seven county officials who would be impacted by your request, as well as with the vendor of the voting machines that are used in Nevada, we understand that it would be virtually impossible at this late date to redistribute voting machines because they are already in place and calibrated for use at their current early voting locations,” Cegavske stated in the letter.
Cegavske said in the letter she would be open to discussing future elections once the 2016 election ends.
Cegavske also said the initial request by the Pyramid Lake and Walker River Paiute tribes, which was overseen by Bret Healy, a consultant with the Native American advocacy group Four Directions, was simply laying the groundwork for legal recourse by filing the initial request in August.
Healy said the requests for the Pyramid Lake and Walker River Paiute tribes were made in a timely fashion and said it was unfortunate to treat the requests as a political tool.
“Her characterization of those efforts as merely a pretext for litigation is, in a word, false,” Healy said. “The fact remains that until (Pyramid Lake Chairman Vinton Hawley) and (former Walker River Chairman Bobby Sanchez) requested equal access, Secretary Cegavske, by her own admission had not once looked into the barriers faced by Native American voters in Nevada.”
Healy said despite the characterization, he and the Inter-Tribal Council planned to work with Cegavske on future issues.
Read the original request:
Native American tribes' request by Reno Gazette Journal on Scribd
Cegavske’s response:
Cegavske tribal voting response by Reno Gazette Journal on Scribd
Source: Reno Gazette-Journal; 10.26.16
