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![handle is hein.congcourts/neyvgse0001 and id is 1 raw text is: CASE STUDIES IN EMERGENCY ELECTION LITIGATION
No Early Voting Site for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe
Pascua Yaqui Tribe v. Rodriguez
(James A. Soto, D. Ariz. 4:20-cv-432)
A suit to establish an early voting location on an Indian reservation
was unsuccessful. On the one hand, the suit was brought too close to
the election. On the other hand, the plaintiff tribe did not show a
sufficient barrier to voting for tribal members on the reservation.
Subject: Absentee and early voting. Topics: Early voting; poll
locations; laches; COVID-19.
A federal complaint filed in the District of Arizona on October 12, 2020, chal-
lenged a decision to close the only in-person early voting site on an Indian
reservation.1 The complaint alleged that [t]he need for increased access to in-
person early voting on the Pascua Yaqui Reservation is paramount particularly
in light of the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tribal com-
munities and the fact that mail voting is not an available or adequate substitute
for many Native voters.2
On the next day, the tribe filed a motion for a preliminary injunction and
a motion for expedited consideration, seeking an injunction ruling by October
20.3 Judge James A. Soto agreed to hear the injunction motion on October 19.4
On October 15, the parties filed a joint request for an October 16 status
conference to determine whether the hearing could be conducted remotely.5
Judge Soto agreed: Although the parties and counsel are welcome to appear
in-person for the status conference the Court presumes that pertinent counsel
and parties will appear telephonically in light of the truncated notice, deadlines
and filings in this case.6 Judge Soto provided telephonic contact information
in the order.7
The hearing began at 1:13 p.m. on October 19 and concluded at 6:00 p.m.
on October 20.8 On October 22, Judge Soto denied the tribe immediate relief.9
1. Complaint, Pascua Yaqui Tribe v. Rodriguez, No. 4:20-cv-432 (D. Ariz. Oct. 12, 2020),
D.E. 1.
2. Id. at 2.
3. Motion for Expedited Consideration, id. (Oct. 13, 2020), D.E. 5; Preliminary Injunction
Motion, id. (Oct. 13, 2020), D.E. 4, 13.
4. Order, id. (Oct. 13, 2020), D.E. 10; see Order, id. (Oct. 16, 2020), D.E. 30; see also Howard
Fischer, Yaqui Voters Seek Location on Tribal Land Where They Can Drop Off or Cast Early
Ballots, Ariz. Daily Star, Oct. 17, 2020, at B1.
5. Joint Motion, Pascua Yaqui Tribe, No. 4:20-cv-432 (D. Ariz. Oct. 15, 2020), D.E. 15.
6. Order, id. (Oct. 15, 2020), D.E. 19 [hereinafter Oct. 15, 2020, Order]; see Minutes, id.
(Oct. 16, 2020), D.E. 29.
7. Oct. 15, 2020, Order, supra note 6.
8. Minutes, Pascua Yaqui Tribe, No. 4:20-cv-432 (D. Ariz. Oct. 19 and 20, 2020), D.E.
37, 38.
9. Opinion, id. (Oct. 22, 2020), D.E. 43, 2020 WL 6203523; see Howard Fischer, Judge De-
nies Pascua Yaqui Tribe's Request for an Early-Voting Site, Ariz. Daily Star, Oct. 23, 2020, at
Federal Judicial Center 8/17/2021
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