LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Two groups on Wednesday urged state and county officials to provide in-person voting sites and ballot drop boxes closer to tribal communities in Elko and Humboldt counties.
The groups, All Voting is Local Nevada and Nevada Native Vote Project, asked Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske for better access on behalf of the Shoshone-Paiute tribe of the Duck Valley Reservation and the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation.
Letters were sent to Elko County Clerk Kristine Jakeman and Humboldt County Clerk Tami Rae Spero.
An All Voting is Local review indicates that travel times to voting locations are on average twice as long for Native American residents as white residents.
Tribal advocates said in a statement, “As the 2020 general election is already underway in Nevada with vote-by-mail ballots being mailed out and early voting starting this week, it is important to take these commonsense and nonpartisan steps to guarantee that all of Elko County’s Native voters have access to early voting sites and drop box locations, and to ensure that voters are not forced to choose between their health and their fundamental right to vote.”
The letters urge the following updates:
- Add an in-person voting option for the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation, and a ballot drop box location on or near the Duck Valley Reservation.
- Add an in-person voting option for the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation, and a ballot drop box location on or near the Fort McDermitt Reservation.
