HOLBROOK — The Navajo County elections department is rushing to spend a $615,000 windfall grant to boost voter turnout and election management.
The county will use the money to set up ballot drop boxes, an early-voting trailer, as well as tents and generators to increase the number of early voting locations throughout the sprawling county.
The money comes from the Center for Tech and Civil Life, which has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to help run elections nationwide this year.
Arizona in general and Navajo County in particular has been plagued by problems in providing enough polling stations, early voting sites and ballot drop boxes — especially on the vast sprawl of the reservation lands.
Navajo County has settled past lawsuits with the Navajo Reservation based on studies that show a lack of polling places, Navajo translators, mail service, transportation and other problems have contributed to low voting rates on the reservation. Similar problems have plagued the White Mountain Apache Reservation. The county has worked to expand early voting sites throughout the 10,000 square-mile county, but the new grant will provide a big boost to that effort.
“This grant will allow us to provide a great service for voters of Navajo County,” said Navajo County Recorder Michael Sample.
Supervisor Daryl Seymore said, “This is a fantastic grant. You guys have done a great job and hope that you continue to be more than prepared for Tuesday — I know its short notice.”
The grant may prove especially useful in boosting voter turnout on the Navajo and White Mountain Apache Reservations. Nearly a third of Native Americans who are eligible to vote aren’t registered, according to the National Congress of American Indians. Moreover, in most elections turnout for those who are registered is 1-10% below the average for other racial groups.
The lack of standard mailing addresses on many areas of the reservation, the much slower mail delivery time and the long distances to polling places or early voting sites have all contributed to the low turnout numbers. The slow mail service means that voters on the Navajo Nation effectively have 40 to 70% fewer days to vote by mail. Moreover, a higher percentage of the mail-in ballots either don’t arrive at the voter’s address or home or don’t make it back to the elections office. In addition, a much higher percentage of mail-in ballots on the Navajo and Apache reservations are thrown out for lack of a signature on the envelop or other problems, according to studies.
In Scottsdale, there’s one post office for every 15 square miles. On the Navajo Reservation, there’s one post office every 707 square miles. Moreover, 30% of the households on the Navajo Reservation can’t get to a post office or early voting site because they don’t own a car, according to a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit Four Directions, attempting to protect voting rights.
Other lawsuits have also sought to protect the voting rights of Native Americans and other groups.
Until roughly 2013, Arizona had to get approval of its election arrangements from the US Department of Justice, due to a history of deliberate voter suppression of minority groups. At that point, a Supreme Court decision essentially reinterpreted the Voting Rights Act and thus eliminated the need for so-called pre-clearance of Arizona elections, redistricting and election laws.
The Republican-dominated legislature subsequently adopted a series of election law changes. Republicans argued the new restrictions were necessary to prevent fraud while Democrats argued the measures would reduce voting by minority groups, who typically are more likely to vote Democratic. In most elections, nearly two-thirds of Native Americans vote Democratic.
One key change included a ban on “ballot harvesting,” when someone collects the signed, sealed, mail-in ballots from other people and turns them in all at once to an early voting site or at a polling place on election day.
The lawsuit Democratic National Committee v. Hobbs seeks to reinstate ballot harvesting and allow people to vote in a different precinct than where they’re registered — both provisions that have boosted turnout on reservations and in low-income and minority neighborhoods elsewhere.
A federal court has ruled the ban on ballot harvesting and other measures was enacted “with discriminatory intent” and overturned the Arizona law. However, an appeals court stayed the order. The case will now be reviewed by the US Supreme Court, which has shown in recent cases a reluctance to overturn state election laws.
In a separate case, a federal court has ordered Arizona to give mail-in voters time to “cure” their ballots, when a ballot has been rejected because of a missing or mismatched signature or other problems.
The Centers for Tech and Civil Life grant will provide the money for the county to expand its early voting operations, with more staffing and equipment to provide locations where people can drop off their early and mail-in ballots. Mail-in ballots received after election day won’t be counted – even if they’re postmarked before the election. The election’s on Tuesday, so people with mail-in ballots should take them to one of the drop boxes or early voting locations or turn them in at the polls.
The CTCL has raised hundreds of millions of dollars, mostly from private donors, to help offset the estimated $4-billion cost of holding the 2020 elections.
The grant agreement said the county can spend the money on “ballot drop boxes, drive-through voting, non-partisan voter education, personal protective equipment for staff, poll workers, or voters, poll worker recruitment funds, voting materials in languages other than English and vote-by mail/absentee voting equipment.”
Navajo County Ballot Drop Box Locations:
Early voting sites close on Oct. 30. However, you can still drop off a mail-in ballot at the following drop box sites:
Heber Navajo County Complex: 2188 W Country Club Dr, Overgaard, AZ
Holbrook Justice Court: 121 W Buffalo Street, Holbrook, AZ
Holbrook County Complex: 100 E Code Talkers Dr, Holbrook, AZ
Snowflake Justice Court: 145 South Main, Snowflake, AZ
Winslow Justice Court: 619 E 3rd Street, Winslow, AZ
Pinetop-Lakeside Town Hall: 325 W White Mountain Blvd, Lakeside, AZ
Show Low Health Dept: 550 N 9th Place, Show Low, AZ
Kayenta Township: 100N Hwy 163, Kayenta, AZ
Pinon Chapter House: .25 mi N of Hwy 4 and BIA 41, Pinon, AZ
Indian Wells Elementary School: State Route 77 and Navajo Route 15, Indian Wells, AZ
Hopi Elections Dept: Intersection of State Route 264 and BIA Route 2 (Leupp Road)
White Mtn Apache Tribal Offices: Chief Ave and Walnut St, Whiteriver, AZ
Cibecue Community Center: 6 W 3rd St, Cibecue, AZ
Greasewood Chapter House:
Shonto Chapter House: Indian Rte 221, Shonto, AZ
Apache County Ballot Drop Off Locations
Early voting sites close on Oct. 30. However, you can still drop off a mail-in ballot at the following drop box sites.
Hours: Until 7:00 pm on November 3, 2020
Chinle Road Yard Drop Box
Located 50 yards south of Speedway Store on US Hwy 191, Mile Post 446.9
Chinle, 5C24+3M Chinle, Arizona
Hours: Monday through Thursday 7:00 am until 5:30 pm
Friday from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm
18 CR 5101, Concho, C9C6+HC Concho, Arizona
Hours: Until 7:00 pm on November 3, 2020
Fort Defiance Road Yard Drop Box
Route N54, Fort Defiance, Arizona (left hand turnoff before NHA building) PWPX+X9 Fort Defiance, Arizona
Hours: Monday through Thursday 7:00 am until 5:30 pm
Ganado Road Yard Drop Box
North of the Ganado Chapter House
Hours: Monday through Thursday 7:00 am until 5:30 pm
Puerco (Sanders) Justice Court Drop Box
Apache County Rd 7080 — Take I-40 North to exit 339, turn North to Sanders,6MC6+GG Sanders, Arizona
Hours: Until 7:00 pm on November 3, 2020
Round Valley County Annex Drop Box
309 S. Mountain Ave, Springerville. 4PH6+CC Springerville, Arizona
Hours: Until 7:00 pm on November 3, 2020
St. Johns County Annex Drop Box
75 W. Cleveland St., St. Johns, GJ4M+QP St. Johns, Arizona
Hours: Until 7:00 pm on November 3, 2020
Teec Nos Pos Road Yard Drop Box
North of Teec Nos Pos Chapter House, look for building that says “Apache County District I” Teec Nos Pos, AZ WV6W+Q3 Teec Nos Pos, Arizona
Hours: Open until 7:00 pm on November 3, 2020. Use access hole in fence if gate is locked.
10 Main St, Vernon, AZ 85940,7834+XW Vernon, Arizona
Hours: Until 7:00 pm on Nov 3
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