NAVAJO NATION (AZFamily) — The Navajo Nation has won its lawsuit to extend voting hours after some voters in northeastern Arizona had problems casting their ballots on Tuesday.
A judge ruled nine polling places can stay open until 9 p.m.
The locations are Lukachukai, Lupton, Rock Point, Cottonwood, St. Michaels, Fort Defiance, Wheatfields, Dennehotso and Chinle.
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said that while the locations will remain open until 9 p.m., only voters registered within the locations or precincts can vote with a provisional ballot after 7 p.m.
VoteBeat was the first to report the ruling.
The move comes after Navajo Nation officials filed a 43-page complaint in Apache County Superior Court against the county election officials and the Board of Supervisors because of the Election Day problems.
The Navajo Nation said some polling places weren’t open on time because they didn’t start issuing ballots at 6 a.m., as required by law.
The lawsuit said a voting location in Dennehotso wasn’t open until 7:19 a.m., one of at least nine with problems.
Officials said at some locations, the voting machines broke down and which created long lines.
Some voters left without casting a ballot due to the lack of ballots, long lines that extended into the cold weather and “lack of opportunity to vote,” the court paperwork said.
In several locations, people waited up to three hours to vote, the documents stated.
Officials said at least 17 people left the Rock Point polling place because the wait was too long.
At two other locations, they ran out of provisional and emergency ballots, the Navajo Nation said.
Officials said voters were denied the right to cast and vote due to broken voting machines, a lack of printed and provisional ballots, long lines, polling workers not accepting required identification, and polls not being operational or open during voting hours.
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, just after 12 p.m., admitted that Apache County experienced problems with the voting machines and printers.
“Technical teams are addressing these problems, and most voting sites are now operational,” Fontes said in an email to Arizona’s Family. “Remaining challenges are being addressed with support from our office as we assist in troubleshooting.”
Fontes held a news conference and streamed it on his YouTube page around 5:40 p.m. but didn’t address the lawsuit.
Any voters in Apache County with issues can contact the county recorder at [email protected] or by calling (928) 337-7515 or (928) 337-7632.
Apache County has more than 43,000 registered voters who live in the county part of the Navajo Nation.
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