In Arizona, Harrison v. Laveen became a landmark legal victory in the struggle for Native American voting rights.

Although Congress granted United States citizenship to Native Americans through the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, Arizona continued to deny voting rights to many Indigenous citizens living on reservations.

In 1928, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled in Porter v. Hall that reservation Indians were considered persons under guardianship and therefore could not vote under the Arizona Constitution.

Frank Harrison and Harry Austin, members of the Fort McDowell tribal community, challenged this exclusion after Maricopa County Recorder Roger G. Laveen refused to register them as voters. Harrison was also a World War II veteran who had received an honorable discharge.

The men filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court seeking an order requiring the recorder to register them. After the lower court dismissed their complaint, they appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court.

On July 15, 1948, the Arizona Supreme Court reversed the lower court's judgment. Justice Levi S. Udall explained that the federal government's relationship with tribal communities did not constitute the kind of court-established legal guardianship that disqualified someone from voting.

The decision expressly overturned the conflicting portion of Porter v. Hall, ending a major legal barrier to Native American voter registration in Arizona.

However, the ruling did not immediately guarantee equal voting access. English-language literacy tests, discriminatory registration practices, and other barriers continued to prevent many Indigenous citizens from exercising their voting rights.

Today, Harrison v. Laveen is remembered as an important milestone in the continuing struggle for Native American political participation, civil rights, and equal representation.