Transcript 2008 Native American Election Protection

Patty Ferguson-Bohnee
Indian Legal Clinic
Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at
Arizona State University
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Nonpartisan effort to ensure that all voters
have an equal opportunity to participate in
the political process
Purpose
◦ To help voters resolve
 ID Problems
 Polling locations
 Registration Lists (purging)
◦ To collect data illustrating the obstacles voters
face as they head to the polls
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Native American Voters Have Historically Been
Disenfranchised at the polls
Recent Attempts to Discourage and Prevent
Native Voters and Candidates
New Voter ID Laws
◦ Disparity in Conditional Provisional Ballots
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Protect Native Americans From Voter
Intimidation and to Ensure Native Voting Rights
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Formalized 2008: AIGA, ITCA, ILC
Relationship Development
◦ SOS/DOJ/Local County Recorders and County
Attorneys
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Hotline Number to Tribes for Tribal
Newspapers and Radio Stations
NABA-AZ recruited attorneys – community
service project
Training
Volunteers are Attorneys, Students, and
Other Professional Competent People
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Volunteers will be stationed at Reservation Polling
Places with Voter Rights information and phone
numbers as Field Monitors
Mobile Legal Volunteers will be assisting Field
Monitors
Volunteers/Students will be answering calls at the
Legal Command Center at the Inter-Tribal Council
of Arizona main office in Phoenix
Tribal attorneys will serve as on-call volunteers
ready to answer specific legal questions and to
respond to incidents
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First Line of Defense
Provide Voters with Critical Information
Can Solve Vast Majority of Issues Reported by Voters
Collect information for Qualitative and Quantitative
Purposes
Electronic Voting and Voter Machine Experts
Experts on Issues Relating to Language Minority
Voters
Experts on All Other Voting Issues
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Attorneys and Other Professional Competent
People
 Ready to be on call for Field Monitors and Hotline
Workers with Specific Questions of Concern
 Teams of 2 People
○ At least one attorney per team
○ Assigned to cover 4-6 polling places
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Why are they important?
 Help voters at the polls
 Assist poll workers
 Gather information
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Located at Specific Polling Locations
Assist Native American Voters who have
voting problem
Offer information
Contact Election Protection Hotline or MLV for
assistance
Take an Incident Report
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Attorneys
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Situated on or near reservation
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Available to respond quickly to election
issues if needed
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Voter Registration
Early and Absentee
Voting
Residency
Voter Identification
Felony
Disenfranchisement
Voter Challenges,
Voter Intimidation,
and Deceptive
Practices
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Assistance to Voters
and Disability
Access
Provisional Voting
Election Equipment
and Ballots
Other Polling-Place
Issues
Counting of Ballots,
Audits, and
Recounts
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2008: 15/21 tribal communities had
coverage; 53 NV volunteers
2010: Metro Tribes, Camp Verde, and some
of Navajo Covered
Biggest Gap – Navajo Reservation
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Hotline was used many places where not
reservations
 Problems: Reservation residents don’t have physical
addresses but PO Boxes, go to polls and told not
registered
 Registered, but not assigned to polling location
 Call us, verify voter registration
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On-scene volunteers – told not registered,
could call county recorder and clarify,
sometimes on inactive list
Tribal Counsel in house very helpful in getting
announcements made
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Machines went down in several polling
locations, not ballots offered
◦ Extended polling locations
◦ Announced on Radio Station
◦ Some not reported timely
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Some polls didn’t offer language translations
under Section 203
Intimidation by Police Officers
◦ Guadalupe, Camp Verde
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25 incidents/19 polling locations were
reported by the small group.
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Early voters – no ID
Regular – ID
Provisional Voters (check signature), Native
American provisional
Conditional Provisional (have to return with
ID within 5 days)
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Who must show ID – anyone voting at the polls on
election day
Who need not show ID
◦ Early voters (by mail or at early voting sites)
◦ On election day, voters dropping off completed early ballots
at a polling place
Voter Identification
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ID must contain voter’s correct name and current
address
Voter must show one form of photo ID OR
Two forms of non-photo ID
Photo Identification
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Forms of Acceptable ID – Photo ID with address
(must show one form)
◦ Arizona driver’s license or non-operator’s license
◦ Tribal enrollment card or other form of tribal identification
◦ Valid United States federal, state, or local government issued
identification (unaware of any ID that fits this definition)
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Forms of Acceptable ID – Non-Photo ID (must show
two different forms)
 Utility bill dated within ninety days of the election (electric,
gas, water, solid waste, sewer, telephone, cellular phone or
cable)
 Bank or credit union statement dated within ninety days of the
election
 Valid Arizona Vehicle Registration
 Vehicle Insurance card
 Indian census card
Voter Identification
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Forms of Acceptable ID – Non-Photo ID (must show
two different forms) (continued)
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Property tax statement of the elector's residence
Tribal enrollment card or other form of tribal identification
Recorder's Certificate
Valid United States federal, state, or local government issued
identification, including a voter registration card issued by the
county recorder
 “Official Election Mail” (e.g., sample ballot, polling place
locator)
Tribal Identification (non-exhaustive list)
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Tribal identification or enrollment card issued by a
federally recognized Indian tribe, nation, community, or
band (“tribe”), a tribal subdivision or the Bureau of
Indian Affairs
Certificate of Indian Blood issued by a tribe or BIA
Voter registration card for tribal elections
Home site assignment lease, permit or allotment issued
by a tribe, tribal subdivision or BIA
Grazing permit or allotment issued by a tribe, tribal
subdivision or BIA
Provisional Voting – ID Issues
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Two types of provisional ballots
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Regular Provisional Ballot – if name or address on ID
do not match the information in the precinct register
or photo does not reasonably resemble elector
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Conditional Provisional Ballot – if voter provides no
ID or only one form of non-photo ID
Provisional Voting – ID Issues
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Regular Provisional Ballots are counted if the signature
on the ballot envelope matches the signature the county
recorder has on file with the voter’s registration
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Poll worker should give voter a receipt that has a place
to indicate whether ID was provided
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Receipt has a phone number that voter can call to find
out if his ballot was counted
Provisional Voting – ID Issues
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Conditional Provisional Ballots are not counted unless the
voter provides ID to county elections officials within 5
days of the election
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Can return to polling place on election day with ID OR
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Go to County ID verification site within 5 days
Special Provisions for Native Americans
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A Native American voter who provides one form of
tribal ID (photo or non-photo) with the voter’s name
(address not required) receives a regular provisional
ballot
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Ballot will be counted after signature match
Felony Disenfranchisement
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Arizona elections officials are notified when a voter is
convicted of a felony and cancel the voter’s registration
People with one felony conviction who have completed
any sentence of imprisonment, probation and/or parole
and have paid all fines and restitution are eligible to
register and vote
People with two or more felony convictions must apply
to the court to have their voting rights restored
 Unregistered Voters
is certain they registered
◦ Ifto someone
vote but they are not on the voting
roll, get their information (Name,
contact info, where they think they
registered, with what organization)
 Lack of Needed Assistance
◦ Any issues related to voters who need
assistance or would like to bring
someone into the poll to assist them
(such as the disabled or language
minorities)
 Native Language Assistance
◦ Keep track of people seeking Native
language assistance and whether they
received that assistance
◦ Translation services (including
bilingual voting materials) not being
provided (in required areas)
 IDs
for ID where not required
◦ Requests
by law
forms of ID being
◦ Acceptable
rejected (especially Tribal IDs)
track of Native voters who
◦ Keep
could not vote because they didn’t
have acceptable ID (Especially keep
track of voters with Tribal ID issues)
and whether provisional ballots are
being offered
 Provisional ballots
track of the reason why each
◦ Keep
provisional ballot was cast. And, if
voters were or not offered one.
 Partisan Poll Monitors
challenges by poll monitors
◦ Selective
that appear based on race, ethnicity,
or other demographic variables
challenges by poll monitors
◦ Random
not based on any justifiable rationale
of voters by loud
◦ Intimidation
challenges or argumentative
discussions
 Systemic Problems
machines or unusually long
◦ Faulty
lines at polling places
places opening late or
◦ Polling
closing early
number of ballots or
◦ Insufficient
provisional ballots
 Voters being turned away
denied the right to vote and
◦ Voters
told they were “purged” form the
voter rolls
questioning regarding
◦ Selective
felon status / voters denied
because of being an ex-felon
without acceptable ID
◦ Voters
who are at the wrong
◦ Voters
precinct and are not assisted with
finding their correct precinct
being turned away without
◦ voters
being offered a provisional ballot
voter suppression tactics /
 Possible
Inappropriate behavior
remarks, slurs, or other obvious bias
◦ Any
against voters by elected officials, poll
monitors, or other voters based on race,
religion, color, ethnicity or country of
origin
campaigns, consisting
◦ Misinformation
either of fliers, posters, telephone calls, or
radio ads giving the wrong date of election
day or giving false info about voter
requirements
monitors with cameras and video
◦ Poll
cameras, ostensibly to catch acts of voter
fraud on film
monitors in uniform, or with badges,
◦ Poll
armbands, or side arms
individuals inappropriately
◦ Any
approaching or confusing voters on their
way into vote
unusual law enforcement presence or
◦ Any
activity at or in the vicinity of the polling
place
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Tribal Support and Buy-In
Tribal In-House Counsel Volunteers
Hotline Announcements to Tribal members
Encourage additional volunteers from tribal
communities
Encourage tribal members to serve as
pollworkers
Educate Members on the Law