RENO, Nev. — The Latest on a federal court hearing in Nevada about access to voting on two Indian reservations (all times local):
1:35 p.m.
A hearing on tribal voting rights is underway in federal court in Nevada, where a judge is being asked to order election officials to put satellite polling places on two Indian reservations.
Lawyers for the Paiute Pyramid Lake and Walker River tribes told U.S. District Judge Miranda Du in Reno on Tuesday that tribe members are being denied equal access to the ballot box.
The attorneys say the state, Washoe and Mineral counties are violating the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 by refusing their request to set up satellite polls similar to those provided in wealthier, mostly white neighborhoods.
Lawyers for the state and counties deny any discrimination. They say it’s simply too late to accommodate the request, with the election just five weeks away.
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12:05 a.m.
The Justice Department is siding with two Nevada tribes’ interpretation of a key part of the U.S. Voting Rights Act at issue in a legal battle with state and county officials over minority access to the polls.
Lawyers for the Paiute tribes are scheduled to go before a federal judge in Reno Tuesday with their emergency request for a court order establishing satellite voting sites on their reservations before the November election.
They accuse Nevada’s secretary of state, Washoe and Mineral counties of illegally denying tribe members voting access afforded to people in wealthier, mostly white neighborhoods.
The counties say the sudden change would cost too much, and the state says it has no authority to intervene. But the Justice Department said in a new filing Monday they appear to be confusing voting rights with “voting convenience.”
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