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d. Testimony at trial demonstrated that mail service is non-existent on many parts of Native American reservations in Montana. 09109120 Trial Tr. (McCool) at 338:19339:14; Agreed Fact Nos 24,28,42. e. A significant percentage ofNative Americans living on rural reservations have non- traditional mailing addresses and do not receive mail at home. Pl. Ex. 23 at 67/Stip. Ex. 4; Pl. Ex. 24 at 8/Stip. Ex. 6. f. Instead, Native Americans often rely upon post office boxes ("P.O. box") to conduct affairs. Pl. Ex. 23 at 6-7lStip. Ex.4. g. On some reservations, residents must drive many miles one-way to get to their local P.O. h. Box. Pl.E,x.23 at 6-7lStip. Ex. 4. On average, persons living in communities off reservations have a shorter distance to travel to the nearest post office. The average one-way distance to a post office off-reservation is 7.16 mites. The average one-way distance to a post office onreservation is 12.25 miles. 09/10/20 Trial Tr. (Weichelt) at 679:17-680:15; Pl. Ex.27. i. The longest distance to a nearest Post Office faced by Native American voters in Montana is 34 miles one-way, or 68 miles roundtrip, for some members on the Fort Peck reservation. 09 I 10120 Trial Tr. (Weichelt) 68 I :6-l I ; Pl. Ex. 27. j. On average, off-reservation post offices are open longer on both Monday through Friday and Saturdays compared to on-reservation post offices. Pl. Ex. 82, 83, 84/Stip. Ex.31-34. k. P.O. Boxes are often shared by multiple tribal members. 09/08/20 Trial Tr. (Fyant) at98:4-12;09108120 Trial Tr. (Cuts the Rope) at 121:18-22; 122:1-2. 12

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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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