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13. The total on-reservation population of the seven reservations is approximately 70,000. Agreed Fact No. 18. 14. These reservations are home to thousands of Montana voters who lack equal access to the ballot and who experience greater barriers to casting mail ballots (both absentee and ballots in mail-only election) than do other Montanans. See generally Pl. Ex. 23lStip. Ex.4; Pl. Ex.24lStip.Ex.6; Pl. Ex.26lStip. Ex. 8. 15. Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of Fort Peck a. The Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation are a sovereign, federally recognized tribe with over 13,000 enrolled Tribal members. Approximately 7,000 of.those members live on the Reservation, and over 4,500 are 18 years b. ofage or older. Agreed Fact. No. 21. The Fort Peck Reservation is home to two separate Indian nations, each composed of numerous bands, and jointly govemed a single Tribal Executive Board. Agreed Fact No. 22. c. The Fort Peck Reservation spans approximately 1 10 miles from east to west and 40 miles from the Missouri River north towards the Canadian border, covering a little over 2 million acres. Agreed Fact No. 23. d. Some houses on the Fort Peck Reservation do not receive home mail delivery. Agreed Fact No. 24. e. Fort Peck has a transit bus system that does not follow a route-it responds to calls of individual and takes them to their desired location on the Reservation. Pl. Ex. 1 14 (Fort Peck Affidavit), fl 1 1. 6

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Western Native Voice v. Stapleton

Judgment

Question Presented: Whether the Ballot Interference Prevention Act violates the Plaintiff’s right to vote, right to free speech, right to association, and due process.

Alleged Acts: Montana presents unique challenges as the fourth largest state in terms of land size, but the third least densely populated. Consequently, most voters utilize the absentee voting procedure. Montana also is home to seven Reservations, intersecting with sixteen different counties. These Reservations each have unique challenges to voting including a lack of home mail delivery, transportation that does not run on a regular route, taking administrative leave to drive in groups to polling stations, limited mail routes and drop-off locations, lack of convenient P.O. boxes, and mail delays. Further, many Native American Reservations have difficulties traveling due to high poverty levels, lack of working vehicles, car insurance, licenses to drive off of reservations, or money for gasoline to travel to polling stations. Some Native Americans on Montana Reservations have voted through the collection and conveyance of their ballot to local election offices by community members and third parties.

Summary: The Defendants failed to provide evidence that the state of Montana has or ever had a problem with unsolicited ballot collection or ballot interference. Thus, because the Ballot Prevention Act interferes with fundamental rights it is required to meet strict scrutiny. The Ballot Interference Prevention Acts limits the number of ballots per collector to six ballots and the court determined that this did not meet a compelling state interests, lack basis, and the voter were uninformed of this limitation at the time of voting — ultimately failing a strict scrutiny test.

Conclusion: The court found in favor of the Plaintiffs stating that the Ballot Interference Prevention Action violated the right to free speech, right to vote, right to association, and right to due process.

Legal Issue(s)

Elections as a Fundamental Right
Indigenous Persons
Vote Verification and Transmission

Applicable Law(s): Ballot Inference Prevention Act

Region: Americas

Country: United States of America

Language of Decision

English

Court: Trial Court

Election Type: Review of law

Date of decision: Sep 25, 2020

Geolocation

Latitude: 46.55684320353664

Longitude: -112.0529752389978

: Geolocation

Primary Documents

Western Native Voice v. Stapleton.pdf
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Election Judgments - IFES

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Western Native Voice v. Stapleton

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