Arizona Public Radio | Your Source for NPR News
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
KNAU's main phone line is experiencing technical difficulties. Click here to contact members of our team directly.

Federal judge rules against Arizona law that 'disenfranchised' Native voters

Matt York
/
AP Photo

A federal judge has blocked a 2022 law that advocates say disenfranchised thousands of Native American voters.

HB 2494 required all registered voters to provide proof of a physical address to cast a ballot. But the Tohono O’odham Nation, Gila River Indian Community and Native youth said in a lawsuit that more than 40,000 homes on Native American reservations across the state don’t have a physical address.

The judge ruled that the bill’s address requirements must be liberally interpreted so that a standard street address isn’t required to vote.

Instead, numerous documents can be used to meet the requirement, such as an Arizona-issued ID that lists a P.O. Box or any tribal identification document regardless of the address.

Numerous tribal leaders and advocates praised the decision.