Arizona Natives to Celebrate Native American Right to Vote Day

Members of Apaches Vote and the White Mountain Democrats will be in Whiteriver Tuesday, July 15, to help commemorate the 60th anniversary of Native American Right to Vote Day. The group will be in the parking lot of Bashas’ from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. passing out stickers and helping to register voters.

In 1928, the Arizona Supreme Court denied the lawsuit of a Pima man who had been refused the right to register to vote. That decision stood until Frank Harrison, a Yavapai man who had fought in World War II, decided he and other Native Americans should have the right to vote. He and Fort McDowell Tribal Chairman Harry Austin attempted to register to vote on Nov. 8, 1947. Their applications were rejected.
Harrison, having fought for his country, decided to fight again. He and the tribal chairman filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court. On July 15, 1948, the court ruled in a unanimous decision that Native Americans have the right to vote in Arizona.

from the White Mountain Independent.