WASHINGTON β In what a former Arizona elector called βa sweet irony,β the slate of 11 Democratic presidential electors who will cast Arizonaβs Electoral College votes Monday, Dec. 14, includes three tribal leaders.
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis and Tohono Oβodham Nation Chairman Ned Norris Jr. will join eight other Democrats to cast the stateβs votes for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
While it may have been a sweet irony, however, it was no accident.
Arizona Democratic Party Chair Felecia Rotellini said she wanted to choose electors who would βrepresent the diversity of Arizona, and the diversity of Arizona voters, as well as Arizona Democratic voters.β That included the three tribal leaders with βdeep roots to our state.β
βThe three leaders of the tribes that we selected are also great partners with the Arizona Democratic Party in terms of helping us to promote candidates that reflect the values that we all believe in β the values that were on the ballot in this election,β Rotellini said. βWithout their leadership, we wouldnβt be where we are today.β
Norris did not respond to requests for comment, and Lewis declined. But Nez called being chosen an elector βa big honor.β
βIβm overjoyed, and happy to cast the Navajo electorate vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,β he said.
The role of elector is largely symbolic, said Andrew Gordon, an elector in 1996, the last time Arizona voted for a Democratic president.
βMost people obviously donβt know they exist,β he said, even though itβs the electors who Americans actually cast ballots for when they vote in a presidential election.
The symbolism of this particular slate of electors is not lost on Gordon, especially in Arizona, which has a βreal serious disenfranchisement problem, particularly with the Native American population. β¦ So I do think there is a very sweet irony that weβve got such a high representation.β
Sen. Jamescita Peshlakai, D-Cameron, said the stateβs 22 tribes, which hold β25% of the landmass in Arizona,β need more input in all aspects of governance.
She said Native Americans too often are βinvisible to those that we elect in office,β but their high turnout and overwhelming support of Democrats this year proves they have an impact.
βPeople only come out during the campaigning time, and promises are forgotten after people win their office,β said Peshlakai, who is Arizonaβs first Native American woman state senator. βSo itβs important to have more Indigenous people in every capacity and then as electors as well, to keep the pressure up on those that we support.β
Nez, who was a featured speaker at the Democratic National Convention, said he has been reminding Democrats since the beginning of this election not to take the Native American vote for granted.
βI think itβs really a strong belief of the party that Native Americans continue to contribute and have contributed to this country,β Nez said. Native Americans βare key to the success of the Democratic Party and also the future of the party itself.β
Rotellini said it made sense to choose tribal leaders as electors because they have contributed to the state in a multitude of ways, including economically, spiritually and socially.
Moreover, she said, the three tribal electorsβ values align with the partyβs on issues like affordable, accessible health care, good public education, environmental protection and protection of elders.
Gordon commended Rotellini for naming an overall diverse slate of electors, adding that being party chair can be βjust an awfulβ job.
βThis is one of the very few little goodies you get is to name the electors, and she was very conscientious aboutβ making sure it was a diverse group, Gordon said.
Rotellini said she βtried to represent the constituencies across the state from the southern border to the northern border and, yes, it was difficult.β
She said she aimed to include as many constituency groups as she could: labor, LGBTQ, different ethnic groups, women leaders, as well as community activists, rural and urban residents and, of course, tribal leaders.
βItβs my chance to acknowledge their partnership and their contributions, not only in the individual electors, but the communities that they represent,β she said.
The other electors are: Rotellini, Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo, Luis Alberto Heredia, Constance Jackson, Arizona Corporation Commissioner Sandra Kennedy, James McLaughlin, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and Fred Yamashita.
βItβs high time that we spend more time emphasizing the contributions β social, economic, spiritual β that our Native American communities provide to the quality and fabric of Arizona, and the quality and fabric of β and culture of β the United States,β Rotellini said.
Nez said the partyβs recognition of tribes was important for turning out the Native vote this year, and it will matter for the future.
βI think in two years, there may be an opportunity for a Native American to run for statewide office,β he said. βThat would be extraordinary.β
Photos: 2020 General Election in Pima County and Arizona
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Judge throws out lawsuit, finds no fraud or misconduct in Arizona election
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PHOENIX β A judge tossed out a bid by the head of the Arizona Republican Party to void the election results that awarded the stateβs 11 electoral votes to Democrat Joe Biden.
The two days of testimony produced in the case brought by GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward produced no evidence of fraud or misconduct in how the vote was conducted in Maricopa County, said Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Randall Warner in his Friday ruling.
Warner acknowledged that there were some human errors made when ballots that could not be read by machines due to marks or other problems were duplicated by hand.
But he said that a random sample of those duplicated ballots showed an accuracy rate of 99.45%.
Warner said there was no evidence that the error rate, even if extrapolated to all the 27,869 duplicated ballots, would change the fact that Biden beat President Trump.
The judge also threw out charges that there were illegal votes based on claims that the signatures on the envelopes containing early ballots were not properly compared with those already on file.
He pointed out that a forensic document examiner hired by Wardβs attorney reviewed 100 of those envelopes.
And at best, Warner said, that examiner found six signatures to be βinconclusive,β meaning she could not testify that they were a match to the signature on file.
But the judge said this witness found no signs of forgery.
Finally, Warner said, there was no evidence that the vote count was erroneous. So he issued an order confirming the Arizona election, which Biden won with a 10,457-vote edge over Trump.
Federal court case remains to be heard
Fridayβs ruling, however, is not the last word.
Ward, in anticipation of the case going against her, already had announced she plans to seek review by the Arizona Supreme Court.
And a separate lawsuit is playing out in federal court, which includes some of the same claims made here along with allegations of fraud and conspiracy.
That case, set for a hearing Tuesday, also seeks to void the results of the presidential contest.
It includes allegations that the Dominion Software voting equipment used by Maricopa County is unreliable and was programmed to register more votes for Biden than he actually got.
Legislative leaders call for audit but not to change election results
Along the same lines, Senate President Karen Fann and House Speaker Rusty Bowers on Friday called for an independent audit of the software and equipment used by Maricopa County in the just-completed election.
βThere have been questions,β Fann said.
But she told Capitol Media Services it is not their intent to use whatever is found to overturn the results of the Nov. 3 election.
In fact, she said nothing in the Republican legislative leadersβ request for the inquiry alleges there are any βirregularitiesβ in the way the election was conducted.
βAt the very least, the confidence in our electoral system has been shaken because of a lot of claims and allegations,β Fann said. βSo our No. 1 goal is to restore the confidence of our voters.β
Bowers specifically rejected calls by the Trump legal team that the Legislature come into session to void the election results, which were formally certified on Monday.
βThe rule of law forbids us to do that,β he said.
In fact, Bowers pointed out, it was the Republican-controlled Legislature that enacted a law three years ago specifically requiring the stateβs electors βto cast their votes for the candidates who received the most votes in the official statewide canvass.β
He said that was done because Hillary Clinton had won the popular vote nationwide in 2016 and some lawmakers feared that electors would refuse to cast the stateβs 11 electoral votes for Trump, who won Arizonaβs race that year.
βAs a conservative Republican, I donβt like the results of the presidential election,β Bowers said in a prepared statement. βBut I cannot and will not entertain a suggestion that we violate current law to change the outcome of a certified election.β