Seth A. Richardson

srichardson@rgj.com

A federal judge on Friday found partially in favor of two Native American tribes in their lawsuit against the Secretary of State’s Office and two Nevada counties in a voter disenfranchisement case.

Federal Judge Miranda Du released her ruling late Friday afternoon which found in favor of the Pyramid Lake and Walker River Paiute tribes’ request for early in-person polling in Nixon and Schurz and Election Day in-person polling at Nixon. She denied the request for satellite voter registration sites in both places.

“In this case, while injunctive relief would impose costs upon defendants, there is no indication it would interfere with the state’s ability to move forward with the November election as scheduled,” Du said in the ruling. “The public interest is served by the enforcement of the (Voting Rights Act of 1965) and the inclusion of protected classes in the political process.”

The Washoe County District Attorney’s Office released a statement that said it was still reviewing the ruling and would decide whether to appeal or comply.

“Washoe County believes that its decisions in regard to all locations for early voting and Election Day voting for the 2016 General Election were based on population, fairness, and in accordance with controlling federal and state law,” the statement reads.

Washoe County Registrar Luanne Cutler said Friday before the ruling was released that her office would do as directed by the court.

Walker River Chairman Bobby Sanchez and Pyramid Lake Chairman Vinton Hawley said in a joint statement they looked forward to working with the county.

“We look forward to working with Nevada Secretary of State Cegavske and Washoe and Mineral County officials to establish the early voting sites on our respective reservations and for the Election Day polling site in Nixon, Nev., called for by Judge Miranda Du’s order,” Sanchez and Hawley said.

The tribes made the initial requests in August. The Pyramid Lake Paiutes requested eight days of on-site voter registration, early polling from Oct. 22 through Nov. 4 and an Election Day site, all at the tribal capital of Nixon. The Walker River Paiutes asked for six days of satellite voter registration and early polling from Oct. 22 through Nov. 4 at the tribal capital of Schurz.

Washoe and Mineral counties both denied the request, citing cost and logistics. The tribes responded by filing a federal voter disenfranchisement lawsuit citing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which lists Native Americans as a protected group.

The basis for the suit were the long distances tribal members had to travel for registration and voting, as far as 96 miles round-trip for the Pyramid Lake Paiutes to the nearest early polling site. The tribes said in their initial complaint that whites had much better access to voting and registration, including 22 early polling sites in the Reno area and Incline Village.

Du heard arguments on Tuesday for nearly seven hours, including testimony from Bret Healy, a consultant for the Native American advocacy group Four Directions heading the case. In his testimony, Healy said election education on reservations has been historically subpar, leading to low turnout. Tribal members also felt more comfortable on the reservations as opposed to in majority-white courthouses, where they sometimes felt like they faced discrimination, Healy said during the testimony.

Du declined the satellite voter registration based on the fact the five plaintiffs in the lawsuit were all registered voters.

“Because all named plaintiffs are registered voters, and because none has shown a need to access in-person voter registration in order to update their registration, plaintiffs have failed to show injury in fact and thus do not have standing to assert the claims for additional in-person registration sites,” Du said in her ruling. “Therefore, plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction to establish in-person registration sites in Mineral County and Washoe County is denied.”

Mineral County Clerk-Treasurer Chris Nepper and Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Healy was in transit and also unable to immediately comment.