Supreme Court Ruling Will Create ‘Barriers’ for Native Americans—Attorney

Amid this year’s presidential election, attorney Patty Ferguson-Bohnee said on Friday that a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court will create “barriers” for Native American voters in Arizona.
In a 5-4 vote last week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order related to a case raised by the Republican National Committee (RNC). The case asked the justices to block a lower-court order that blocked enforcement of a 2022 Arizona law that would bar registered voters who have not previously provided proof of citizenship from voting in presidential elections or by mail in any federal elections.
The Court granted part of the stay filed by the RNC while rejecting other parts. It will allow Arizona election officials to reject new voter registration forms that do not include proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or a passport.
However, it rejected part of the request that sought to block Arizonans already registered to vote but have not provided proof of citizenship from voting in federal elections or by mail. Had the Court granted that part of the request, it could have blocked tens of thousands of Arizonans from voting in this year’s presidential election in November.
Ferguson-Bohnee, director of the Indian Legal Clinic and a clinical professor of law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, asserted that the law could create confusion among organizations and community members attempting to register voters, potentially deterring the voters from registering.
“The goal of the law was to create barriers to the ballot box,” she told the Arizona Mirror’s Shondiin Silversmith in an article that was published Friday. “And even to prevent eligible voters from registering to vote. It’s very discouraging because it’s making a change right in the midst of the election process when people are registering people to vote. This decision by the court is revising the playing field for election law.”
All Indigenous peoples were declared citizens of the United States in 1924. As the coordinator of the Arizona Native Vote Election Protect Project, Ferguson-Bohnee stated that enrolled members of federally recognized tribes residing in Arizona could use their tribal identification numbers as proof of citizenship.
“As long as a tribal member is an enrolled member of their tribe, they can use that tribal ID number to register on the state form, and that will prove citizenship for purposes of voter registration,” she told the Arizona Mirror, a nonprofit news organization.
Newsweek has emailed Ferguson-Bohnee for comment on Saturday afternoon.
A majority of the Supreme Court justices agreed to partially grant the request. However, Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative appointed to the bench by former President Donald Trump, along with the bench’s three liberal justices, supported completely rejecting the request, according to the order.
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, responded to the Court’s decision in a statement released last Thursday.
“My concern is that changes to the process should not occur this close to an election, it creates confusion for voters. We respect the Court’s decision and will implement these changes while continuing to protect voter access and make a voting simple process,” he said.
RNC chairman Michael Whatley celebrated the decision in a statement.
“This is a major victory for election integrity that upholds a simple principle: American elections must be decided by American citizens,” the statement said. “While Democrats have worked to undermine basic election safeguards and make it easier for non-citizens to vote, we have fought tooth and nail to preserve citizenship requirements, see the law enforced, and secure our elections. The Supreme Court has sided with the RNC, and the American people, to protect the vote in November.”
Arizona, which is viewed as a swing state in the 2024 presidential race, is home to a key Senate race and two battleground congressional races. It was viewed as Republican-leaning for much of the 2000s and 2010s but has drifted toward Democrats recently, with President Joe Biden narrowly carrying the state in 2020.
The participation of voters from Arizona’s tribal lands significantly increased in comparison to the 2016 presidential election, contributing to Biden’s win in a state that had not opted for a Democrat in the presidency since 1996. Indigenous Americans in Arizona played a vital role in shifting the balance in Biden’s favor.
The precise count of Indigenous American votes cast is challenging to discern since many reside off the reservations, but an examination of specific locations unveils a drastic rise in voter involvement.
An Associated Press evaluation of election data indicates that electors within the precincts of northeastern Arizona’s Navajo and Hopi reservations accounted for almost 60,000 ballots during the 2020 election, a significant increase from just under 42,500 in 2016. Biden won the state by just under 10,500 votes.
In comparison to a 4 percent uptick among all Arizona voters, participation in two of the larger precincts on the reservations heightened by 12 percent and 13 percent, with Biden securing a significant lead in these areas.
On the Havasupai reservation, a smaller territory nestled within a canyon off the Grand Canyon, the volume of votes cast in 2020 doubled that from 2016, dominantly favoring Biden. The Hualapai reservation also saw a rise in voter turnout, with Biden surpassing Trump at an approximate 5-1 ratio.
Jaynie Parrish, the executive director, stated that nonprofit entities such as Arizona Native Votes, whose mission is to engage and instruct voters in tribal communities, remain uncertain about how recent alterations may impact their endeavors to enlist new voters.
“Different groups are trying to understand and we’re hoping to have more information from the secretary of state and county election offices soon,” Parrish told The Arizona Republic in an article published Friday. “We’re just not sure the scope of how this will impact tribal and rural communities.”
Newsweek emailed Arizona Native Votes Saturday afternoon for comment on the Supreme Court ruling.