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l. Because of the lack of transportation and remote locations, not many people can check their mail every m. When mail is day. 09/08/20 Trial Tr. (Cuts the Rope) at 124:19-125:11. collected from a P.O. box, it is commonly pooled among individuals. 09108120 Trial Tr. (Fyant) at 98:4-12,13-17;09108120 Trial Tr. (Cuts the Rope) at 121:18-22;122:1-2. n. On Fort Belknap, for example, it is common that people with cars and gas money collect mail for others and take it to the post office. 09/08/20 Trial Tr. (Cuts the Rope) at 124:15-125:11 ; 126:2-127 :20. o. Now with reports of postal delays, it is more difficult than in the past to judge when a ballot must be placed in the P.O. Box so that it is mailed on-time-this is especially true on Indian reservations. 09109120 Trial Tr. (McCool) at 341:24342:17; Pl. Ex. 23 at 5-7lstip. Ex. 4; 09/09/20 Trial Tr. (Street) at 274:23-276:23; Pl. Ex. 26 at 4-6lStip. Ex. 8. p. The United States Postal Service is facing problems and delays in mail delivery nationally. The State may be less able to respond to the expected increase in mail- in ballots. 09/09120 Trial Tr. (McCool) at 341:21-342:2; Pl. Ex. 23lStip. Ex. 4; 09109120 q. Trial Tr. (Sreet) at274:23-276:23;Pl.Ex.26 at 4-6lStip. Ex. Absentee ballots are mailed to voters approximately one month before the election. 09109/20 Trial Tr. (Corson) r. 8. at443:12-16;Pl.Ex.24 at 8/Stip. Ex. 6. The Secretary of State and counties recommend that voters retum their ballots by mail no later than one week prior to the election. 09109120 Trial Tr. (Corson) at 443:17-20;09109120 Trial Tr. (Street) at 274:23-275:6,276:25-277:23; Pl. Ex. 26 at 9/Stip. Ex. 8. 13

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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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