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b. Outreach on BIPA. i. The Secretary of State is responsible for outreach and education. 09109120 Tial Tr. (Corson) a|407:7-111' 439:18-23; see also Mangan Dep. Tr. 58:5-l l; Beall Dep. Tr. 135:21-136:6. ii. Public education is necessary to ensure compliance with BIPA. Mangan Tr. Dep. 8l:20-82:8. iii. Despite the Secretary's beliefthat education and outreach increase awareness, and that outreach is crucial to increasing voter turnout, the Secretary of State's Office only did one public service announcement (PSA) and put information on its website regarding BIP A. 09110120 Trial Tr. (Corson) at 475:9-476:76; 478:3-8 iv. COPP's primary role is enforcement of BIPA but the COPP has had to take on public education to step in for the Secretary of State. Mangan Dep. Tr.57:2158:1 1; 150:14-22: 155:16-159:14; Pl. Ex. 41. v. The Secretary of State's Offrce conducted no outreach specifrc for tribes or targeted to reservations and had no mechanism by which Native American voters would know that any new information was on its website, even though believed that including relevant information on its website it is one way to promote democracy. 09/10/20 Trial Tr. (Corson) at 477:l-478:15. c. Registry. i. Following its passage, all individuals engaging in ballot collection and conveyance (apart from postal workers and election officials) must submit a registry form for all ballots they deliver. Mont. Code Ann. $ 13-35-704. 31

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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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