Čhaŋté waštéya napé čhiyúzapi yeló, Friend.
(I shake your hands with a good heart.)
“Be very afraid, we’re watching you.”
That’s the message the Arizona Legislature sent communities of Color with passage of legislation requiring an I.D. for early voting, and the allocation of $530,000 in state funds for an “election integrity unit” in the state Attorney General’s office. These are clearly voter suppression tactics advanced by state actors – the Legislature and Governor. And the target is also evident, persons of color, particularly 324,000+ Native Americans of voting age.
The official motto of the Grand Canyon State is “Ditat Deus,” which means “God Enriches.” As things are going these days in Arizona, some civil servant may have to find the Latin translation for “Legislators Disenfranchise.”
This week’s New York Times article (read it here) exposes injustice in Arizona and elsewhere that is enough to anger every American who believes in fair elections, equality before the law and the basic tenant of our democracy – one person, one vote.
The stakes are high and these tactics are desperate. Arizona will be a swing state in determining the race for the White House. But 2020 also will see a hotly contested U.S. Senate race in the state, almost a rematch of the 2018 race.
In 2018, Rep. Krysten Sinema (D) captured 50% of the vote in defeating Rep. Matha McSally (R). McSally now holds the appointed seat vacated by the death of John McCain and will be the likely Republican nominee for the second time in a row, this time facing off against potential Democratic nominee and retired astronaut Mark Kelly, husband of former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D).
Four Directions was on the ground in Arizona for that pivotal 2018 election, where we helped drive up a record turnout among voters in the Navajo Nation. We went to great lengths to mitigate the unfair treatment of Native voters, unequal treatment we’re still fighting in the courts in front of a judge appointed by President Trump.
Most of the Navajo Nation in Arizona is located in parts of three counties. One of those counties, Coconino, is so large New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island combined all fit inside Coconino County. About 1.5% of the non-Indian population must travel 40 miles round trip to vote early. Among the Navajos, a whopping 45.5% must make a journey of that distance or greater for early voting, nearly a 30:1 racial disparity in voter hardship.
In the Summer of 2018, we requested more early voting sites on the Reservation and were denied, even though federal dollars in Help America Vote Act ("HAVA") funds could have defrayed some of those costs. That inequality in early voting access is at the heart of the lawsuit which has cost us over $100,000 to date.
Jonathan Nez, President of the Navajo Nation, noted the importance of Four Directions in turning out the Native vote in 2018. "Welcome Four Directions to Navajo as our partner in getting out the vote so we may protect our treaty, sovereignty, and way-of-life. Listen to the comments of President Nez in the beautiful Navajo language.
We also captured national attention with our success at Standing Rock in 2018. But 2018 was just the prelude to a much bigger effort in 2020.
Please help us continue our ongoing lawsuit and gear up for our voter turnout action plan in Arizona and six other key battleground states. We invite you to join hands with us as Native Americans are poised to set a new record for engagement in our shared democracy.
Let’s tell those Arizona legislators we're not afraid. Together, we’re about to make history, again.
