Navajo Nation reports long lines, major voting issues in Apache County

FORT DEFIANCE — Printer issues and shortages of provisional ballots on Navajo Nation have left some voters waiting in line for three hours and others leaving their polling sites, especially in Apache County.

Tim Hardy, a Navajo Marine veteran, emerged from voting at the Fort Defiance Chapter House, noting that he had waited three hours to cast his ballot. Aware that many others also were waiting, he said he decided to skip voting on the propositions and focused solely on voting for the presidential candidates.

"Right now it's chaos," Hardy told The Republic. "They are way behind, and it's getting worse. I just went straight to Trump and Harris and I voted for Harris. The line is getting longer and people are getting frustrated and they are leaving. The elderly have been standing there ... you have to get them chairs."

Donna Holyan and her mother, Ella Wauneka, also waited in line for three hours to vote. They mentioned that inside the voting location, there were only two voting booths, and the approximately 200 paper ballots available had already been used up.

"I got tired standing there," Wauneka said. "I needed to sit down."

Holyan said they had never experienced this type of wait before. She, too, saw people getting frustrated and leaving.

"They said they had 200 emergency ballots from this morning, but they went fast," Wauneka said. "So we were like, 'They should've had more.'"

Efforts were underway by Navajo Nation officials to try to extend voting hours.

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Issues at polls only occurring in Apache County

Katherine Belzowski, an attorney for the Navajo Nation Department of Justice, said Apache County was experiencing technical problems with its polling equipment, particularly the printers.

The issues affect the printing of ballots. Although the problems have been identified and efforts were underway to fix them, some solutions were not holding up, she said: Some printers produced only a few ballots before breaking down again.

"The county is trying to address that, but in the meantime, while that issue is being addressed, people are having to vote on emergency paper ballots that the county has as backup," Belzowski said. "But those are being depleted because of so many voters coming in."

The remaining option is the accessible voting machine, known as the ExpressVote machine, which is designed for out-of-precinct voters. However, in some locations, it has become the only available way for voters to cast their ballots. Printing ballots from this machine takes time, leading to extended wait times, and people are leaving before casting their ballot.

"All the polling locations are being impacted, some more than others," Belzowski said. "We've been told this is the only county in the whole state that is having this problem."

Navajo Speaker Crystalyne Curley, who was visiting communities in Apache County, noted that the issues began almost immediately after the polls opened. The initial problem involved the ballot printers, which were only printing sections related to propositions and not the presidential candidates, she said.

"We are unsure how many ballots were submitted that way," Curley said. "Another issue is a lot of people are filling out provisional ballots. There are not enough copies at all of our polling locations. We don't know how many of these emergency, provisional ballots were on hand — we're told up to 50-100 ballots but polling places have already run out.

"We don't have an expected amount of time of when more ballots will be delivered."Curley said she spoke with Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, and he assured her the state was making an effort to deploy IT teams to address the problems in the community.

However, as Belzowski noted, while the issues might be temporarily resolved, they often reoccur shortly after.

"Apache County has experienced issues with ePollbooks and printers this morning," Fontes said. "Technical teams are addressing these problems, and most voting sites are now operational. Remaining challenges are being addressed with support from our office as we assist in troubleshooting."

Stay in line and vote, Navajo Nation leaders say

Curley and other Navajo Nation leaders were urging people to stay in line and not leave before voting.

Curley and Belzowski noted that no similar complaints have been reported from other counties, such as Navajo or Coconino.

Curley mentioned that prior to the election, they were assured the process would run smoothly. She said she had not received any updates or information from Apache County since then. "Navajo voters are always a threat in these big elections," Curley said. "Knowing we have the numbers and voices to do so, to make a huge decision or we can sway a vote, we've been talking about this within our own council that we have to make sure everything goes smoothly.

"We were getting reassurance it was going to go smoothly. In the back of my mind, I already knew something would happen."

Curley urged voters to stay and cast their ballots, emphasizing the importance of remaining in line. She mentioned that some voters expressed to her they had to rely on rides to reach the polling site and couldn't afford to wait much longer, which might force them to leave.

"The wait may be long, but we have to make sure that no one gets turned away," Curley said. "I know they are getting impatient and angry and cold. I know some said they caught a ride to the polls and can't wait that long. It's a lot of things going on, but we are encouraging people not to give up."

She also reminded voters to make sure they took their identification cards to the polls, and if they were in the system and registered, then they had the right to vote.

Belzowski also urged people to remain in line and not leave without voting. She emphasized that voters had the right to address registration issues until 7 p.m. Tuesday, although she had been told some people were not given the chance to address them at the polls earlier. "We are trying to address that issue as well as the tech issue," Belzowski said. "We are trying to let people know to call the county recorder's office to fix their registration. They can do that up until 7 p.m."

Holyan said she and her mother got in line at 9 a.m. to vote, but by that time, all 200 emergency ballots had been used. As a result, they had to wait the three hours to use one of the two voting machines available for voters.

"We need our voices heard," said Holyan as to why she and her mom stayed in line to vote.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Navajo Nation reports long lines, major voting issues in Apache County