Voter Suppression Still Exists. Native Americans Face the Brunt of It.
Voter suppression is a prevalent issue in America attacking democracy and people’s fundamental right to vote. It should be a right extended to all eligible, yet millions of Native Americans, especially those living in reservations across the United States, are unfairly and systematically excluded from voting.
Native Americans’ right to vote has a long history and they have been fighting an uphill battle to acquire this supposedly basic right. The Snyder Act of 1924 also known as the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, was the first step in enabling them to vote. It granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States, opening the door to full participation in American civic life. However, many states choose not to enable them to vote as the Constitution permits the states the right to decide. Over the next couple of decades for all 50 states to allow Native Americans to vote with Maine being the last state to grant this right. Yet, their fight did not end there. Even though they had the right to vote, strategies were enacted to suppress their vote. These were the same mechanisms that were practiced with African Americans such as “poll taxes, literacy tests, fraud, and intimidation.” Eventually, in 1965 the Voting Rights Act was passed and more voter protection laws were enacted in later years. Yet today voter suppression is still incredibly widespread just in a different form than in the 1940s.
Many Native Americans live in areas that do not have traditional addresses and can only be found through directions. States with strict voter identification laws require traditional addresses and it is going to take an unknown number of years for unaddressed homes to be assigned addresses. This poses a significant challenge as traditional addresses are necessary for election administrators to determine where voters live to assign accurate precincts, which then determine which ballot a voter receives, which offices they vote for, and at which polling location they cast a ballot. The Navajo Nation, extending into the states of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, has 50,000 unaddressed homes and businesses. Additionally, In 2012, election officials in Apache County, Arizona, removed 500 Navajo voters from the registration system, claiming their addresses were “too obscure,” according to a field study by the Native American Rights Fund. Voters, in that case, used P.O. boxes which can often be located dozens of miles away, and drew the location of their homes on applications. Non-traditional addresses complicate other aspects of the process of being able to vote as a Native American such as acquiring photo IDs and registering to vote.
Voter registration is another obstacle that Native Americans have to overcome as it can be logistically and economically challenging. Registration online is an easy option for many Americans, however, internet access, residential addresses, and voter registration services are required but simply not attainable to many living on reservations. In-person, registration can often require many miles-long drives and when they arrive, nontraditional addresses can cause their IDs to be rejected at the polls or be included on a suspense list which means the voter is not placed in a voting precinct. Remote reservations often lack crucial mail services such as non-traditional addresses, scarcity of post offices/boxes, P.O., and drop-off mailboxes. This leads to critical problems in areas such as rural Montana where voting by absentee ballot is the only option. P.O. boxes that can be located as far as 40 miles away are unreachable as it requires access to transportation, money for gas, and car insurance amongst several other things that are not possible for the sizable Native American population that lives in poverty. Even if you have access to the P.O boxes, they are irregularly checked and shared between large extended families. There is clearly vast reform required so voting can be more accessible.
Unfortunately, voter ID laws further complicate this issue. Help America Vote Act, also known as HAVA, tightened voting procedures thereby making it more difficult for eligible citizens to vote. The act requires ID to vote, photo ID as one of the acceptable forms, to combat voter fraud, lessen administrative burdens, restore public confidence in elections, and save money. However, it also disproportionately impacts Native Americans. One in five Native Americans eligible to vote do not have a form of identification acceptable in states with strict voter ID laws. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, this group is one of the most impoverished in America, and with their already minimal annual income, many cannot afford to obtain IDs. Some states make it free, however, obtaining the underlying documents such as birth certificates can cost money. Additionally, many Native Americans living on reservations have never needed an ID in the past as their community lives traditionally and the services they use do not require an ID or they use tribal identification cards. Such strict laws don’t actually fulfill their purpose of preventing fraudulent elections, rather, it just makes voting much harder for Native Americans and other disadvantaged groups.
These are just a few of the many systemic issues that prevent the astonishingly low voter turnout rates from being higher. However, progress is being made to improve access to the ballot. The Native American Voting Rights Act, or NAVRA, is making the voting process more equitable. Geographically isolated communities are finally receiving sufficient polling sites by mandating one polling place in each precinct with eligible voters, taking into consideration the distance voters must travel, transportation, access to public transit and wait times. Furthermore, the act allows for community ballot collection in which designated organizations, election officials, or family members may collect a voter’s ballot and deliver it to election officials on the voter’s behalf. This method is a particularly beneficial option for those who are elderly, disabled, or have limited access to transportation. It can also help marginalized communities where high poverty rates, underdeveloped infrastructure, and inflexible work schedules make it difficult for them to submit their ballots on time. NAVRA is also protecting against discriminatory acts by pushing for tribal ID cards to be accepted and for voters to have an option to locate residence on a map. While there is still a way to go for Indigenous people to gain completely equal voting rights, progress is being made to dismantle the oppressive laws in place.
In conclusion, nontraditional addresses, voter registration, and voter ID laws complicate and prevent Native Americans from voting but NAVRA is helping curb these discriminatory laws.
