Diné leaders warn voting bill would block access
WINDOW ROCK
Voting in Navajo country may soon become harder.
To prevent that, Navajo Nation leaders are moving to formally oppose a federal voting bill they say would make it harder for Navajo citizens, especially elders and rural residents, to register and cast ballots by requiring documents many do not readily have.
A proposed Navajo Nation resolution now before the Naabik’íyáti’ Committee argues the SAVE Act would deepen long-standing barriers to Native voting and threatens to reverse decades of hard-fought progress.
At the center of the fight is H.R. 7296, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas.
The bill would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register for federal elections and would impose new identification requirements for in-person and absentee voting.
Navajo officials say those rules do not reflect the realities of life in tribal communities, where many residents live far from government offices, rely on mail voting and may not have passports, birth certificates or IDs that meet the bill’s standards.
To read the full article, please see the March 26, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
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