We are working towards the largest-ever Native Voting Rights Rally, to be held on the Arizona portion of the Navajo Nation, on Friday, May 27.
Arizona voters can look forward to likely having three progressive issues on the November ballot -- abolishing voter suppression, protecting people from abusive debt collection practices and ensuring that political contributions are disclosed to their original source.
The Arizona Fair Elections Act establishes automatic voter registration, allows for registration up through election day, protects mail voting and ensures that the election winner gets the state’s electoral votes. It does some other things, allowing people to vote in any polling place in their county, counting ballots postmarked by election day and providing more options to disabled voters. AZFairElections.com
The Predatory Debt Collection Protection Act saves more assets from being sold to pay off debt collectors, ensures hard-working Arizonans keep more of their bank accounts and wages and limits the outrageous interest rates that trap families in an unending cycle of medical debt. HealthCareRisingAZ.org
The Stop Dark Money initiative requires that political committees disclose the names of the individuals or corporations that actually earned the money the committee is spending. StopDarkMoney.com
All three initiatives are on track to gather the 237,000 valid signatures they need to turn in by the July 7 deadline. But they are all pushing hard to gain a substantial margin of extra signatures. Legal challenges to ballot initiatives can be costly and time-consuming, and one way to avoid challenges is to show up with an overwhelming number of valid signatures.
All three Initiatives will be represented May 27 at our Navajo Power Day of Action, where the petitions will be available for signing at all 66 Chapter Houses on the Arizona portion of the Navajo Reservation. The reservation is half the size of North Carolina, so getting the proper number of volunteers spread out over the vast area will be a challenge. A “chapter” is somewhat similar to a county in off-Reservation forms of government. If you would like to volunteer, secure.everyaction.com/... . If you would like to contribute, you can If you would like to help us, please contribute to secure.actblue.com/...
In addition to having people at the chapter houses, we will also be on the Navajo Radio station, KTNN. It has towers throughout the reservation is really the best and only real way to reach people in remote areas.
I signed up to be in charge of one of the “hubs” that would serve as a central location for about eight chapters. One of my colleagues told me, “You know that your territory covers more than 10,000 square miles.” I responded, “When you say it like that, it does seem big.” Fortunately, I don’t have to visit all the sheep camps in the area, just get eight to 10 volunteers to work at the chapter houses in this portion of the Reservation.
Congressman Tom O’Halleran will be visiting chapter houses and calling into the radio station during the day. We will have a host of statewide candidates joining the fun as well.
We will be getting a lot of good help from many different organizations. Some of our volunteers live on the Reservation and others have never been there before. Our training includes some basic cultural competency, the petition circulation process and logistics.
Navajos vote 90% Democratic, so it is no wonder that the right-wing Legislature wants to disenfranchise them. I think it is important that they get this opportunity to stand up for their rights.
If you would like to help us, please contribute to secure.actblue.com/... If you prefer to send a check, you can mail it to Arizona Deserves Better, c/o Eric Kramer, 1910 Douglas Fir Dr., Pinetop, AZ 85935. Health Care Rising is supported by SEIU and has different rules for fund-raising. The Stop Dark Money website has details for contributions to that effort.