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FLAGSTAFF, Arizona — Arizona’s newly created legislative and legislative map has been officially in use this election cycle, and is expected to weaken Indigenous voting power in the 2022 midterm elections. It remains a cause for concern for supporters.

“This map does not reflect the reality that voters want,” said Navajo County Democratic Commissioner Misa Foy. “This map skews things to the right for the states, making some races a lot tighter than they used to be.”

A map of the state’s 30 legislative districts and nine congressional districts (which will be used for the next 10 years) produced by the Arizona Independent Electoral Reorganization Commission shows who Native American voters will elect. weakens its impact on

The map that causes the most concern among voters and tribal leaders is Congress’s second district, which is largely made up of what was known as the first district in the previous decade. increase.

A major concern among Indigenous voters is the lack of a fair chance to choose who they want to hold public office, Foy said. The district itself has a large area of ​​land and most of the tribal communities are located in rural areas.

Foy is not a Native, but he works alongside Navajo County Democrats with Native vote advocates in the area to understand how Native votes are impacted in their counties.Navajo County The Democratic Party is a committee that educates and resources the public about Democratic Party positions and ideals.

Navajo County Democrats, through their project “Northeast Arizona Native Democrats,” developed educational tools to educate Native voters about the re-election process and its impact on tribal communities.

This was in response to the lack of public education provided by AIRC and Arizona on the importance of reorganization. They were one of the few Indigenous-led projects to provide re-election information to Indigenous voters.

Foy said the work of Rep. Tom O’Halleran, the district’s current congressman, demonstrates how important it is to have someone in the office who understands tribal communities.

He was able to put the funds back into the district, and made sure some of that money went to tribal lands, she said.

“CD2’s land mass is huge,” Foy said, adding that it makes up about 60% of Arizona’s land mass. Tribal lands occupy most of the district.

The map for Congressional District 2 currently includes 14 tribes in northern, eastern, and central Arizona, and members of these tribes make up approximately 20% of the district’s population.

According to AIRC data, the total population in Ward 2 is over 794,000, and the voting age is over 628,000. The district voter turnout is split between 46% for Democratic candidates and 53% for Republican candidates.

District 2 votes have now shifted seven points to the right, making District 2 the most native district, Foy said. This change puts native voters at a disadvantage.

District 2 includes more tribal communities, but the new map is made up of the high GOP county of Yavapai and not just the verde valley verdant communities like the previous map.

This boundary was a primary concern of the district for many tribal leaders who shared their concerns with the AIRC.

The Navajo Human Rights Commission submitted a proposal to the AIRC to exclude most of Yavapai County and half of Gila County from District 2 so as not to undermine the voices of Indigenous voters.

The Gila River Indian Community has made similar recommendations. Governor Stephen Law Lewis has ordered the district to exclude parts of Yavapai County around Prescott and Santan Valley in Pinal County and add Casa Grande, Coolidge, Graham and southern Greenlee counties. Suggested to adjust.

Ultimately, the AIRC acknowledged the concerns of tribal and vote advocates, but did not change the boundaries of District 2.

At a certification meeting for Arizona’s redistricting map in January, AIRC Democratic Commissioner Shereen Lerner noted that Republicans outnumber Democrats in voter registration, but Arizona said it was roughly evenly split between the two parties and independents.

That is why we need as many competitive districts as possible, she said.

The final map contains 13 Republican districts, 12 Democratic districts, and 5 districts deemed competitive by the metrics used by the AIRC. Four of the five competitive districts lean Republican.

The Arizona Independent Restricting Commission officially accredited the map earlier this year. Arizona’s Secretary of State has distributed them to county recorders to update ballot materials for this year’s election.

Regarding the map of legislative districts, supporters and tribal leaders expressed some concerns about some of the proposed districts, but were overall satisfied.

ARIC is required by the Voting Rights Act to create Native American Majority and Minority legislative districts, but is not required by law for Congressional districts.

About 61 percent of Indigenous people live in Legislative District 6, which allows Indigenous voters to choose their candidates for the state legislature, Foy said.

“What they did was give the district to the Indigenous voters while actually taking representation in Congress,” Foy said of the AIRC’s decision on the District 6 map.

One of the biggest concerns about the legislative map was how District 6 put the city of Flagstaff and the tribal community into the same district. Tribal leaders and voting advocates noted that it distanced political power from Indigenous voters.

Patty Ferguson Bohney, director of the Indian Law Clinic at Arizona State University, said in an interview with the Arizona Mirror last year that concerns weren’t just speculation.

Ferguson-Bohnee noted that the legislative map used from 2001 to 2011 also found Flagstaff and tribal lands in the same district. The Native He-American candidate was the preferred candidate for Native voters, but lost in the primary to a non-Native candidate favored by Flagstaff voters.

“It beat the tastes of Native Americans,” she said. That history should show that drawing similar districts diminishes the ability of Indigenous communities to elect candidates of their choice.

This concern echoed AIRC President Erika Neuberg at a December committee meeting, who said she was open to considering changing the map to exclude Flagstaff from the tribe-controlled District 6.

On the final day of map approval, the AIRC agreed to change the boundaries of the District 6 map. ARIC moved much of Flagstaff, along with Snowflake and Show Low, to District 7, and Eager, St. John’s, and Springerville to District 6.

Ultimately, the final ARIC-approved legislative map showed the Republican Party winning. Still, there are enough competitive constituencies where the Democrats can have a chance at controlling one or both of the Legislative Houses.