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Every Vote Counts: The Fight to Rebuild Trust in Apache County [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-04-02
In the 2024 presidential election, Apache County lost 3,000 votes, not because people didn’t care, not because they didn’t show up, but because of avoidable failures that left them unheard.
Ballots were rejected due to technicalities. Voters were turned away over ID issues that could have been resolved with better outreach. Some never received their mail-in ballots or got them too late. Others stood in line for hours at understaffed polling places, only to leave before voting because ballots ran out or poll workers weren’t properly trained on provisional voting. In some precincts, voters were pressured into leaving rather than being given the chance to cast their ballots.
These were not accidents. They were preventable barriers, failures of an underfunded, neglected system that disproportionately impacts Native voters.
Our work is about fixing this broken system before 2026. We’re organizing voter education, ID assistance, ballot tracking, and direct outreach to ensure that no one is left behind again. Your support helps us fight for every vote.
Braving the chill in Chinle, AZ of Apache County, voters stand united in line, showcasing their commitment to democracy and the power of their voices.
One voter, a grandmother from the Navajo Nation, told us she stood in line for over three hours at her polling place. There were no restrooms, no shelter from the cold, and no way to know that the county had extended voting hours at the last minute. She had to leave before voting, thinking she had no other choice. By the time she learned she could return, it was too late. Her voice, and the voices of many like her, was lost.
Another voter, a young man casting his ballot for the first time, was told he needed to vote provisionally. The poll workers weren’t sure of the process, and after waiting for some time without clear guidance, he gave up. “I felt like my vote didn’t matter,” he told us. “Like they didn’t want us to vote.”
At the same time off the Navajo Nation in the Vernon precinct, the patch to fix the poll book printer issue arrived at 10 a.m., about 45 minutes after the precinct ran out of "emergency" pre-printed ballots. Vernon was believed to be one of the last precincts in the southern, Republican-leaning end of the county to receive the fix. Meanwhile, an observer in a nearby precinct reported that they never ran out of pre-printed ballots, highlighting an inconsistency in ballot distribution across the county.
The contrast becomes even more stark when looking at some precincts on the Navajo Nation. Verified reports confirm that no "emergency" pre-printed ballots were available at all in those precincts. Additionally, some precincts did not have their printers fixed until 3 p.m., just four hours before polls were scheduled to close.
Another issue that severely impacted the voter experience was the reliance on a single ExpressVote machine in precincts that had no paper ballots while waiting for poll book fixes. With only one machine available, only one voter could cast their ballot at a time, and the process took at least 20 minutes per person, hardly "express" at all.
To make matters worse, voters were packed into cramped polling places or forced to wait outside in long lines. This was happening just a day after a one-foot snowfall in certain parts of the county, in freezing temperatures, further discouraging participation.
These stories are not isolated incidents, they are part of a pattern of voter disenfranchisement in rural and tribal communities. The long lines, the lack of communication, the equipment failures, and the confusion at the polls, these are preventable issues.
This is Why We Need Your Help
With the 2026 midterms ahead, we are fighting to ensure that no voter in Apache County faces these barriers again. But we can’t do it without you.
Priscilla, 1st vice chair of Apache County Democrats, actively engages with a veteran at a community event. Her dedication to outreach is evident as she shares valuable information to empower the community.
Your donation will go directly toward:
✔ Voter registration & updates to ensure people aren’t turned away.
✔ Election education & outreach so every voter knows their rights.
✔ Community events to rebuild trust and relationships.
✔ Field organizing & relational outreach—meeting voters where they are.
✔ Recruiting & training Precinct Committee (PC) members to strengthen our local party.
Apache County is vast. It stretches across thousands of square miles, covering tribal and rural communities where traditional voter outreach doesn’t always work. We need people in the field. We need volunteers. We need resources.
This is our chance to reclaim our democratic promise and make sure that every voter in Apache County knows: your vote counts, and we will fight for it to be counted.
Donate today to make a difference: secure.actblue.com/
Every dollar fuels the fight. Every voice matters. Let’s make sure Apache County never loses 3,000 votes again.
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