The Tohono O’odham Nation and the Gila River Indian Community are challenging the proof of address requirements included in a new Arizona state law.
The two tribes filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona earlier this month.
Under the new law, individuals must provide a government-issued photo ID that contains or is paired with another document that contains the person’s current physical address, or the individual must provide two documents that contain their current physical address.
However, the tribes argue the that requirements will disenfranchise Native voters as it will leave many tribal members unable to register to vote.
They note that not all homes on tribal lands have a standard physical address and there’s also a lack of postal delivery, meaning most residents of the two tribes’ reservations don’t have any documents that include both their name and an address corresponding with the physical location of their home.