The Navajo Nation Tribe filed a Lawsuit, on Wednesday August 26th, seeking to ease Arizona's Deadline for Mail-in-Ballots in the November Election, citing the Postal Service Slowdown that's heavily affecting Reservation Residents.

The Tribe Sued Arizona Secretary of State, Katie Hobbs (D), in Arizona Federal Court over the State's Requirement that Mail-in-Ballots be Received by 7p.m. on Election Day, saying it gives those on the Reservation less time to Vote than Residents in the State's Major Cities and Suburbs.

The Lawsuit says that Tribal Members face more Hurdles when it comes to Voting-by-Mail and will Suffer Irreparable Harm "unless Defendants' Count vote by mail ballots from Tribal Members postmarked on or before Election Day in the 2020 general election is declared unlawful and enjoined by this Court."

The Nation said it had Requested, earlier this month, that the Secretary of State accept Ballots that were Postmarked by November 3rd.

The Tribe alleged that Arizona's Deadline Violates the Voting Rights Act, the Arizona Constitution, and Tribal Members' Constitutional Rights to Equal Protection under the Fourteenth Amendment.

"Voting by mail systems rest upon the premise that all citizens have equal mail service, however, hundreds of thousands of rural Americans have non-standard mail service burdened with a range of service limits including irregular service or unreliable service, no residential delivery, excessive distances to post offices or other postal providers with limited hours of operation among other issues," the Navajo Nation wrote in its Complaint.

The Lawsuit says that the Reservation's high Poverty Rates, Geographical Isolation, Lack of Post Offices, and other Factors make it Significantly Harder for its Residents to Vote-by-Mail.

The Trump Administration's Slowdown of the Postal Service has raised Concerns about its Ability to Handle an expected Increase in Mail-in-Ballots due to the Coronavirus Pandemic and prompted a Surge in Partisan Litigation over State Voting Restrictions.










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