In the 2020 Presidential Election, Native American voter turnout in Arizona helped then candidate Joe Biden win the state by just 10,000 votes.
Advocates are hoping that the voting block will turn out again in November.
Voter turnout increased in areas where Native voters were likely to live including Window Rock, Chinle and Kayenta, as well as in Maricopa and Pima counties.
Arizona has one of the highest Native American populations, with just under 300,000, according to the U.S. Census.
Despite varying results from the counties that saw the largest increase in voter turnout such as Navajo and Cochise Counties, the increase in Native American voters between the last two elections can’t be understated.
In Apache County, voter turnout increased by 7,000 ballots and Coconino saw 10,000 more ballots cast then in the 2016 election, according to results from the Arizona Secretary of State. In these counties, Biden won handily.
Arizona also saw a larger increased turnout in Navajo and Pinal counties, with 66,000 more ballots cast then in 2016.
“Like all of the elections in the past, we saw that the Native vote holds great power. We saw the push that happened in 2016 of how there were underrepresented communities voting for the first time in a long time,” said Jasmine Lopez, a member of the Tohono O’odham Nation who works for the nonprofit organization Register Her. “It’s important for us to ensure that all people who are citizens and have access to vote, do that and have the education to do so rightfully.”
For the election in November, the state of Arizona will be a highly anticipated swing state. Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cazeres-Kelly is making sure that voting is as accessible as possible.
“We want to establish ballot drop boxes throughout the county to make it easier for people to drop off their ballots, and expand voter services that we have here in the offices,” Cazares-Kelly said.
Although Pima County saw a little over 100,000 more ballots cast in the 2020 election in comparison to the 2016 election, the recorder wants to make voting accessible for everyone who wants to vote.
Native American citizens registering to vote at an election event.
Cazares-Kelly is running for an additional term as recorder, and wants to integrate more technology into the office. The biggest goals for the recorder is simply to increase voter participation including among Native American populations in Arizona cities and reservations.
“We have to treat it like it’s a normal everyday thing that people do. We need to do it every time we’re eligible to vote,” said Cazares-Kelly. “We need to make it normal that people know where to go to get a ballot, and how easy it can be (to vote).”
Native American voting advocates’ biggest emphasis was to address what Native Americans of the past needed to do before they had the right to vote.
“Our ancestors have fought very hard for this right, to be able to place our votes and to even be on the ballot,” Lopez said. “It’s important for us to uplift our communities and the people that we want representing us to be in these positions, where they can make the laws and decisions that affect us positively.”
Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.
