For some Native Americans, casting a ballot means an 'absurd' trip to the polling site
WASHINGTON – Priscilla Weaver plans to set up a voter registration table next month at the flea market on the Shiprock reservation in New Mexico. She wants to make sure more Native American voters list a traditional address so the lack of one isn't a barrier to casting their ballots.
“We’re going to prevent it from becoming an issue,’’ said Weaver, a community organizer and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. “We want to make sure that every vote counts, and there’s no reason for it not to count.”
Weaver and other advocates for Native American voters said they’re working to remove potential barriers to voting in upcoming local races and midterm congressional elections. They point to unique barriers for Native American voters, including sometimes having to travel hundreds of miles to a polling site or election officials not allowing identification cards issued by tribes.
Activists were hoping for passage this year of federal voting rights legislation that included a bipartisan measure to better protect the rights of Native American voters on Indian lands. But the sweeping voting rights legislation failed to advance last month in the Senate, where Democrats have a slight majority. No Republicans supported the legislation.
“We have to get voting rights passed,’’ said Lycia Maddocks, who marched with activists in Washington, D.C., and Phoenix during the MLK holiday weekend to urge Congress to act. “Native American voting rights have essentially been left out of the conversation for decades. It just blows my mind that our voice is always silenced or not considered.’’
Opponents of the Native American voting rights bill argue many voter protections are already in place and there’s no need for federal mandates.
“The portions of that bill that were advocated for are unnecessary because they're just unneeded,” said Sara Frankenstein, an attorney who specializes in election laws and has represented election officials in lawsuits.
Backers of the bill have tried for years to get Congress to pass it but said this year was particularly critical as more states adopt restrictive election laws.
"The lies around election fraud have given cover for state legislatures to act aggressively, to make it more difficult for minority communities to vote,'' said Jacqueline De León, staff attorney at the Native American Rights Fund.
The Senate rejected the push to advance federal voting rights legislation that included the “Frank Harrison, Elizabeth Peratrovich, and Miguel Trujillo Native American Voting Rights Act of 2021.” It was part of legislation that combined voting rights bills, including the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which sought to restore provisions in the 1965 Voting Rights Act requiring states with a history of voting discrimination to get federal approval before making election changes.
Advocates plan to mobilize this spring and continue to push for passage.
“We know that the fight is not over until we see true equity,” said Maddocks, a citizen of the Quechan Indian Nation and political director for the NDN Collective, an Indigenous-led organization whose mission is to build Indigenous power.
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'Native Americans have just been left out'
Supporters of the Native American voting rights measure said it would provide basic access to the polls on American Indian lands, which include reservations. The bill aims to improve access to the polls by increasing the number of ballot drop boxes on reservations, expanding early in-person voting and allowing the use of tribal ID cards to register and to vote. The bill would, among other things, allow another person to drop off a voter’s ballot.
It would also provide $10 million to set up the Native American Voting Rights Task Force grant program to create state-level task forces to increase turnout, education, outreach and accessibility.
The bipartisan bill was reintroduced last summer by Sen. Ben Ray Luján, a Democrat from New Mexico; Reps. Sharice Davids, a Democrat from Kansas; and Tom Cole, a Republican from Oklahoma.
Supporters point to issues such as the geographic isolation of some tribes, lack of transportation, poor access to polling sites, nontraditional mailing addresses and housing instability as factors.
”It’s not that these are new problems. These are problems that have been consistent and sustained,’’ said James Tucker, senior special counsel in the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Washington, D.C., and a founding member of the Native American Voting Rights Coalition, an organization of civil rights and Native American activists.
Tucker said many concerns could be addressed through federal legislation. “Our democracy is incomplete because we’re shutting out certain groups of voters,” he said.
Some Native Americans have to travel an “absurd’’ distance to register sometimes as far as 140 miles each way, said De León. The trip can be costly because of missed work, childcare fees and gas money, she said.
‘’Every American deserves to vote in a place that is convenient, accessible and familiar,’’ she said. “Native Americans have just been left out. We need a federal mandate to make sure that that happens because we have seen states be reluctant to spend the resources to actually provide fair and equitable access.’’
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Critics call proposed voting protections unnecessary
Critics argue some of the provisions could contradict state elections laws and could lead to voter fraud, although numerous studies have shown voting fraud is extremely rare. As of last week, the measure had no Republican cosponsors in the Senate. Cole, one of the bill’s lead cosponsors, is the lone Republican supporter in the House.
Frankenstein, of Gunderson, Palmer, Nelson & Ashmore in Rapid City, South Dakota, said there aren’t enough safeguards in the bill. She said she's particularly concerned about allowing “unattended” drop boxes on American Indian lands and the use of places, such as a public building, to send absentee ballots. Frankenstein said she doesn’t know of any state that doesn’t accept tribal IDs and that states require a polling place in every precinct.
“They're unneeded procedures that only allow for misuse of ballots when there are already ways that all of that can be accomplished in a far more responsible manner,’’ she said.
Frankenstein said there should be discussions with election officials about what’s feasible. “I think that’s often lacking in election bills,’’ she said.
Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, has said state officials across the country are working with tribes to make sure everyone has the opportunity to vote so there's no need for a "complete overhaul."
“What the Democrats are seeking to do is expand voter fraud and disempower the voters from voting Democrats out of office,’’ he said.
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Many Native Americans face voting challenges
Julia Benally, who has worked as a poll worker and site supervisor at precincts on the Navajo reservation in Arizona, said she’s seen many frustrated voters.
Some are upset to learn they were purged from the rolls because they hadn’t voted in recent elections. Others complain about not receiving absentee ballots or showing up to find out their precinct has changed. But it’s the challenges of getting to the polls that can be an obstacle for many Native American voters.
Benally herself has to travel 10 miles along a dirt road to vote at a community center or chapter house. Some voters in the mountainous areas must travel 15 miles to 20 miles along hard clay roads where their tires sometimes get stuck.
To help people better prepare, Benally visits schools and other places, including community centers, to provide voter education. She said it’s important voters know local election laws and who is running for office.
“I want them to understand… in order for them to make the best choice,” she said.
Weaver and her husband, John Watts, drove more than two hours from their home in Teec Nos Pos, Arizona, to drop off their ballots during early voting in the 2020 election. They wanted to make sure they didn’t get lost or delayed with the unreliable postal service on the reservation.
“We were determined to have our two votes counted and arrived on time,’’ said Weaver, chair of the Apache County Democrats.
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Since 2017, at least eight states have considered bills that focus on improving access for Native American voters, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Native American activists joined rallies across the country to press lawmakers to support the proposed federal measures. They also launched social media campaigns, posted videos on Facebook and blasted out tweets to drum up support.
“I'm hopeful always, but it hurts to not see it passed for multiple years in a row,’’ said Kris Beecher, an attorney with Dickinson Wright based in Phoenix who specializes in Indian law and is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation.
Beecher and other activists said voting rights will be a campaign issue this year. "We all know what's at stake," he said.
Follow Deborah Berry on Twitter: @dberrygannett.com