Judge rules against allowing Trump campaign to join Navajo voting lawsuit 

A federal judge on Wednesday denied a request by the Trump campaign to join a lawsuit seeking to argue against extending the deadline for mail-in ballots coming from the Navajo Nation in Arizona.

U.S. District Judge Murray Snow, a President George W. Bush appointee, ruled that the Trump campaign and other GOP entities seeking to join the lawsuit were essentially making the same argument against allowing more time to count ballots from the Navajo Nation as Arizona Secretary of State Kate Hobbs (D).

Snow has also denied requests for progressive groups to join the suit, such as the Arizona Advocacy Network. Arguments in the case begin next week. 

The members of the Navajo Nation are arguing that because mail service on their reservation is much slower than in other parts of the state their ballots should be allowed to be counted longer if they are postmarked by Election Day.

“The deadline is set by state law,” Hobbs said in a written statement to the Navajo Times when the lawsuit was filed earlier this month. “I understand their (plaintiffs’) concerns, which is why we are prioritizing outreach efforts in parts of the state that don’t have consistent postal service.”

Hobbs added that if the court rules in favor of the Navajo Nation she will comply with the new rule.