APACHE COUNTY, Ariz. — The Navajo Nation has filed a complaint to keep polling places open until 9 p.m. after many voters experienced delays because of machine malfunctions on Election Day, according to court documents.
Voters in Apache County have been waiting in long lines because of many polling locations with malfunctioning machines. The complaint from the Navajo Nation is addressed to Larry Noble in his official capacity as Apache County Recorder, Rita Vaughan in her official capacity as Apache County Elections Director, and the Apache County Board of Supervisors.
There have been machines printing only one side of the ballot, ballot machines that have been down and there aren't enough ballots printed, leaving voters to vote on accessible voting devices, said Patty Ferguson-Bohnee, an attorney at Sacks Tierney and the Director of the Indian Legal Clinic and Clinical Professor of Law at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.
"I just got a report from a voter who had to wait in line for three hours to vote," Ferguson-Bohnee said. "We have people who've been leaving because they can't wait that long."
12News has reached out to Apache County election officials repeatedly. The Board of Supervisors of Apache County sent a news release later in the day.
"This morning Apache County's ballot on demand printers did not work as planned. The county worked quickly to identify a fix to the problem. By 9:00 a.m., the fix was identified, and the County immediately began deploying technicians to administer it. Pre-printed ballots were available at all polling locations and some voters utilized the County's accessible voting devices, so that voting could continue during the period the County worked to resolve the printer issue. All polling places have remained open and voting has continued all day for registered voters who want to cast their ballots in Apache County."
The problems started early this morning and even caused some polling locations to open late, Ferguson-Bohnee said. Voters on the Navajo Nation in Apache County are waiting in long lines in cold weather, Ferguson-Bohnee said, and not all people can, particularly elders who are unable to be in the cold that long.
It first came to wider public attention when Navajo Nation president Buu Nygren posted on Facebook, though the post was later deleted.
Apache County, while sparsely populated, is a Democratic stronghold in Arizona, largely because of its tribal populations. More than 66 percent of the county's voters voted for then-candidate Joe Biden in the 2020 election; nearly 70 percent voted for the Senate candidate Mark Kelly.
In a state race that is expected to be razor-thin, voter numbers can matter.
"Everybody has a right to the same amount of time to vote," Ferguson-Bohnee said. "If the machines aren't working, or... they can't print the full ballot, then that's a problem."
Ferguson-Bohnee also said the Native Vote Hotline, staffed by the Arizona Native Vote Election Protection Project, has received calls saying voters at some polling locations have received ballots in Spanish because that is what they had printed.
"That is very problematic for Navajo language speakers," Ferguson-Bohnee said.
Jonathan Nez, former Navajo Nation president and the Democratic candidate for the district that encompasses Apache County, implored voters to stay in line.
Ferguson-Bohnee said she has not heard from the county beyond being told technicians are out fixing voting machines.
"They haven't publicly put anything out with regards to voters," Ferguson-Bohnee said. "This is a serious issue with regards to voters having access to the ballot and being able to cast their ballots, especially since Native people tend to vote in person at higher numbers beacuse they don't have the same access to in person early voting or vote by mail."
For people who speak the Navajo language, this is even more problematic, Ferguson-Bohnee said.
"You need that translation available to you because Navajo is not a written language," Ferguson-Bohnee said.
12News also called the Navajo Nation Department of Justice and has not heard back.
"If they don't have ballots available if they have machines working to the print ballots, that's going to be problematic for voters, and they're going to be denied their right to vote," Ferguson-Bohnee said.
This is a developing story. Please check back with 12News.com for updates.
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