The Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission told a Utah federal judge that Utah’s San Juan County can’t dodge its bid to find the county liable for failing to provide equal opportunities to vote to Navajo citizens, saying that a 2016 plan by the county didn’t provide equally accessible polling places to Navajo voters seeking to vote in person. The commission and a handful of Navajo citizens on Friday replied to the defendant’s opposition to their motion for summary judgment in a suit against San Juan County and some of its officials that claims the county’s voting procedures hinder Navajo citizens’ ability to participate in the political process on equal terms with white voters, in violation of the Voting Rights Act and the 14th Amendment.
The plaintiffs on Friday said that when a jurisdiction provides avenues for citizens to exercise their voting rights, it can’t do it in a way that makes it more difficult for racial or ethnic minorities to vote. They said that the defendants in 2016 failed to meet that standard because their plan did not provide equally accessibly polling places to Navajo voters choosing to exercise the in-person early voting option.
“Nothing in defendants’ response contradicts that conclusion,” the plaintiffs said. “Nor have defendants controverted the overarching fact that entitles plaintiffs to summary judgment as to liability on their Section 203 [of the Voting Rights Act] claim, i.e., the systemic failure to implement procedures to make language assistance effective, or the overarching fact that controls disposition of plaintiffs’ equal protection claim, i.e., that defendants’ mail-only system disadvantages rural voters compared to others.”
On Feb. 24, the commission and a handful of Navajo citizens moved for partial summary judgment in their suit against San Juan County. The county responded in March, saying that the turnout for the 2016 general election on the Navajo reservation was “extremely high” and that the commission hadn’t provided any evidence showing that a Navajo voter was denied the chance to vote by the county’s voting system. Instead, the commission is arguing for an alternative process while ignoring the advantages to the county’s system, including being able to vote by mail from remote locations, the county contended.
Full Article: Navajo Say Utah County Can’t Dodge Voting Rights Suit – Law360.