DOJ, ACLU to monitor San Juan County voting, focus of election settlement agreement

MONTICELLO — San Juan County — focus of a 2016 lawsuit stemming from charges Native American voters had "unequal voting opportunities" — is one of 86 locations around the country that will get an extra dose of attention from election watchers on Tuesday.

The U.S. Department of Justice plans to send staff to monitor Election Day balloting in the county, subject to a 2018 federal settlement agreement meant to bolster the ability of the Native population to vote. Likewise, the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah — which assisted Navajo Nation representatives in filing the 2016 lawsuit that led to the 2018 accord — will also have monitors on the ground.

"We're here to make sure every voice can be heard and every vote counts, empowering the community to participate fully in our democracy," said Aaron Welcher, director of communications for the ACLU in Utah. Native American people account for more than 46% of San Juan County's population, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

In a statement Friday, the DOJ didn't offer specifics about its plans in San Juan County, home to a portion of the Navajo Nation. But it's one of 86 locations in 27 states, and the only one in Utah, that will host DOJ poll watchers.

"The Justice Department enforces federal voting rights laws that protect the rights of all eligible citizens to access the ballot. The department regularly deploys its staff to monitor for compliance with federal civil rights laws in elections in communities all across the country," the statement reads. The department didn't provide additional details when contacted Monday.

The ACLU and other legal organizations filed suit against San Juan County and San Juan County commissioners in U.S. District Court in 2016 on behalf of several Navajo Nation representatives in response to the shift to mail-in balloting.

The change "adversely impacts Navajo voters" and runs afoul of the U.S. Voting Rights Act, the ACLU said at the time, noting the long distance from where most Navajo voters live to the sole location for in-person voting at Monticello, the county seat. The civil rights group also argued that the Postal Service, a key means of submitting mail-in ballots, is unreliable in the relatively remote areas where many Navajo voters live. Furthermore, the 2016 lawsuit reads, the Navajo language is "traditionally unwritten," and the mail-in balloting system doesn't provide "adequate oral assistance to limited-English proficient Native American voters."

Many across Utah have lauded the move to mail-in balloting as a way of making voting easier for more people. But history shows that voting changes that benefit the majority "may disadvantage and impair the rights of a few," Kristen Clarke, of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said in a statement when the 2016 lawsuit was filed.

As part of the 2018 settlement and a subsequent update, the San Juan County Clerk/Auditor's Office was required to open three polling places and "language assistance locations" to assist Native American voters at Montezuma Creek, Navajo Mountain and the Monument Valley Welcome Center. The locations, moreover, must have a Navajo interpreter, and the county was also required to hire a Navajo liaison in the lead-up to elections to assist Navajo voters.

On Tuesday, Welcher said, the ACLU will have five staffers on the ground in San Juan County and more volunteers. Malyssa Egge, the organization's Indigenous justice organizer, will manage a resource center in Bluff to assist voters.

The DOJ didn't reveal details of its planned Utah contingent, but Welch said the department — which will be operating separately from the ACLU — is up to speed on the issues in San Juan County. "The DOJ is well aware of past election concerns in San Juan County and has sent monitors in previous years," Welcher said.

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