Judge rules against Navajo Nation voter lawsuit to force Arizona to count late-arriving mail-in ballots

A federal judge on Friday denied a request by several voters to require that election officials count mail ballots received from the Navajo Nation after 7 p.m. on Election Day, as long as the ballots are postmarked before that deadline.

The voters argued that slow mail service and long distances between drop-off locations mean their votes may not be counted even if they send in ballots several days before Election Day.

But Judge G. Murray Snow wrote that they did not provide any evidence that ballots from Navajo voters were disproportionately tossed out because of the deadline.

Snow also wrote that the evidence in the case did not show that issues like slow mail service disproportionately impact Navajo voters instead or rural voters more broadly.

The lawsuit "certainly shows that meeting the receipt deadline is more inconvenient for Navajo voters than it is for certain voters" but did not show they face a disparate burden, Snow wrote.

Ultimately, Snow concluded, the lawsuit is unlikely to succeed on any of its claims, and he denied the group an injunction.

In a year when changes at the Postal Service have already heightened concerns about delays in delivery, the lawsuit argued spotty service can disproportionately affect voters casting their ballots by mail from the Navajo Nation.

Four Directions, a voting rights group backing the lawsuit, said it recently tested postal delivery and found that while certified first class mail from Scottsdale arrived at the Maricopa County Recorder's Office less than 18 hours later, certified mail sent from locations in the Navajo Nation took five to six days to reach local county recorders. That mail was routed through Phoenix and Albuquerque in some cases, taking routes that stretched hundreds of miles.

While voters can drop off mail ballots at polling locations, the lawsuit said there is one Election Day polling location per 13 square miles in Scottsdale and one location per 306 square miles in the Navajo Nation.

The lawsuit argued that the current Election Day deadline for mail ballots violates Navajo voters' rights under the Voting Rights Act and the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Snow suggested the case was lacking in data, however, writing that the court had not been presented adequate evidence to show that ballots from Navajo voters are disproportionately disqualified due to the deadline.

President Donald Trump's reelection campaign and the Republican Party also filed motions in the case arguing, among other points, that it would be inappropriate to change the deadline for mail ballots so close to the election.

After denying the request for an injunction on Friday, Snow set a hearing for Oct. 9 on a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

Many states accept postmarked ballots received after Election Day, but Arizona's deadline already has been the subject of ongoing debate and litigation.

Voto Latino and a Democratic super PAC, Priorities USA, challenged the deadline in court last year. They wanted election officials to count ballots that are postmarked by Election Day and arrive within five business days of polls closing.

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs settled the case earlier this year by committing to more voter education and awareness efforts.

Contact Andrew Oxford at andrew.oxford@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter at @andrewboxford.