Nation drops voting rights suit against Arizona officials
WINDOW ROCK
After what Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch categorized as “very productive” discussions with county election officials, the Navajo Nation has withdrawn its voting rights complaint and a motion for a temporary restraining order against the Arizona Secretary of State and officials of the three counties that overlap the Navajo Nation.
Submitted
Attorney General Ethel Branch
The Navajo Nation had hired Scottsdale law firm Sacks Tierney, PA to file a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Arizona against Secretary of State Michele Reagan and the Apache, Coconino, Navajo county recorders and election directors in order to protect Navajo voters’ rights.
The TRO sought a delay of the certification of the results of the 2018 election in order to allow Navajo Nation members time to “cure,” or correct, their early ballots rejected for a lack of a signature on the ballot envelope or a mismatched signature.
Branch had stated that the requirement to sign the ballot had not been explained to Navajo voters in their language, and the signatures the counties have on file for Navajo voters probably date back to their original driver’s license and might be 45 years old.
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