The ultimate purpose of the Arizona Native Vote Election Protect Project is to protect the right to vote for Native American voters. The project started in 2008 after Native Americans were disproportionately disenfranchised by Arizona Proposition 200, Arizona’s voter identification law.
If you experience issues when voting call our hotline at 1-888-777-3831.
If you are interested in volunteering on Election Day, November 5, 2024, sign up below (you can choose the time and location)
Training session: Training Sessions TBC
In person training session: Tuesday, October 29, 2024 from 6-8 p.m.
Virtual training session: Thursday, October 31, 2024 from 12:00-1:30 p.m. (Zoom link will be shared with registrants)
Thank you for your support!
The ultimate purpose of the Arizona Native Vote Election Protect Project is to protect the right to vote for Native American voters. The project started in 2008 after Native Americans were disproportionately disenfranchised by Arizona Proposition 200, Arizona’s voter identification law.
In 2006, Agnes Laughter (Navajo Nation), a dedicated voter, went to vote at her usual polling location in Chilchinbeto Chapter House but was denied the opportunity to vote because she did not have the requisite identification despite being recognized as a clan relative of the poll worker. Because Grandma Agnes was born in a traditional Navajo Hogan, had no electricity or running water in her home, and did not drive, she lacked access to a birth certificate, utility bill, drivers license, or vehicle insurance that constituted lawful identification to receive her ballot. Grandma Agnes filed a lawsuit along with the Navajo Nation to challenge the law and worked with the Indian Legal Clinic to obtain a delayed birth certificate and state-issued identification so that she would not be denied her right to vote for lack of identification in the future.
After Agnes’ case illuminated the unique challenges that Native Americans face when voting in Arizona, in 2008 the ASU Indian Legal Clinic partnered with the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, the Arizona Indian Gaming Association, and the Native American Bar Association of Arizona to establish the Arizona Native Vote Election Protection Program. The Project seeks to be available, through the hotline and our field program, to help voters like Grandma Agnes before they leave the polls and to help advocate for them on election day.
Given these unique obstacles, the Native Vote Election Protection Project seeks to identify potential challenges before election day, train and maintain a network of volunteers to respond to incidents on election day, and collect data on barriers to voting.
The Arizona Native Vote Election Protection Project collects data on barriers to voting for Native Americans in Arizona. This effort is led by the Indian Legal Clinic. Additionally, the Clinic leads Arizona Native Vote’s publication of election reports. Our election reports outline the election protection plan for each election cycle, provide a summary of election incidents and litigation, and analyze turnout amongst Native American voters. Such reporting and data tracking is critical given the data gap in Indian Country.
In 2019, the Arizona Native Vote Election Protection Project became a full-time effort with the Native Vote Fellowship program. Currently Torey Dolan (Choctaw Nation) and Blair Tarman (Chickasaw Nation) serve as Native Vote Fellows at the Indian Legal Clinic working on the Arizona Native Vote Election Protection Project. The Native Vote Fellowship program allows Arizona Native Vote to have year-round dedication to efforts such as election access, public policy, election litigation, redistricting, community organizing, public education, Tribal elections, and government level advocacy aimed at protecting and promoting the rights of Native American voters in Arizona.
On election day, the Arizona Native Vote Election Protection Project runs its incident command center. The command center includes volunteers that field calls to the Arizona Native Vote hotline, dispatches emergency volunteers to polling locations where Native Voters are encountering problems when voting, reports ongoing incidents to appropriate county and state officials, coordinates emergency legal actions, and coordinates with other volunteer election protection programs to respond to incidents.
