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e. Delina Cuts the Rope is the Fort Belknap Chief Administrative Officer. 09108/20 Trial Tr. (Cuts the Rope) at ll5:22-25. f. The vast majority of houses on the Fort Belknap Reservation do not receive home mail delivery. 09/08120 Trial Tr. (Cuts the Rope) at 120:13-121:7 g. . There is only one Post Offrce on the Fort Belknap reservation, at Hayes. 09/08/20 Trial Tr. (Cuts the Rope) at 122:20-123:1. h. On the Fort Belknap Reservation, "most folks will have others pick up their mail for them." 09108120 Trial Tr. (Cuts the Rope) at 124:19-22. i. Some Native Americans who are enrolled members of the Fort Belknap Tribes have voted in Montana elections through the collection and conveyance oftheir ballots to their local election offices by community members and third parties. Agreed Fact No. 43. j. To encourage Fort Belknap members to vote, Fort Belknap has assisted voters by assigning and paying staff to take administrative leave so they can drive voters to the polls on Election Day and allowing govemment vehicles to be used to transport voters. This service is free of charge to the voter. Pl. Ex. 115, fl 12. k. Fort Belknap also allows its employees to provide security at "altemative" voting sites on the reservation and provides the space for these locations. 09108120 Tnal Tr. (Cuts the Rope) at133:16-134:20. l. "Altemative" voting sites are those in which the actual county office moves its equipment and staff onto the reservation for a limited time period before the election. It is not a true "satellite" office in that it is not in addition to the county offrce. 09109/20 Trial Tr. (Corson) at452:15-455:12;456:22-457:l;457:14-18. 10

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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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