In the lead-up to the 2018 Midterm Election, tribes and voting advocates in North Dakota worried that a new law could have severely hamper voter turnout among tribal members. The law requires voters to list a physical address on their I.D., which was burdensome for many tribal members who relied on post office boxes for decades. But surprisingly, many precincts encompassing tribal land posted record voter participation rates. And get-out-the-vote efforts helped propel several Native candidates into elected office, including the state’s first Native Democratic female legislator. National Native News, along with Prairie Public Broadcasting and Solutions Journalism Network looked into how a potential setback turned into a win for tribes, voters and Native candidates.
Faced with voting obstacles in North Dakota: ‘We’ll find a way’
Just weeks before the midterm election in North Dakota last November, voting rights advocates and tribes faced what seemed like an insurmountable task: to reach thousands of tribal members and others who could be turned away at the polls because of a new voter I.D. law. Tribal leaders, organizations, and volunteers came together to bring Native voters in compliance with the law, and in the process sparked one the largest Native vote turnouts ever in the state for a midterm election. Read more <a href=”https://nativenews.net/faced-with-voting-obstacles-in-north-dakota-well-find-a-way/” target=”blank”>here</a>
Native American Rights Fund attorney Jacqueline De Leon says even though the Supreme Court would not block North Dakota’s law before the last election, the disproportionate harm to many other Native voters, like Terry Yellow Fat, remains clear.“We still know that there are hundreds of people… potentially thousands of people out there that that still don’t have an I.D.,” De Leon said. “So you know there was a tremendous push this election but we don’t know–and are skeptical–that if the law remains on the books people will have I.D. going forward in the future.” Read the story <a href=”https://nativenews.net/lawsuits-to-overturn-north-dakotas-voter-i-d-law-remain-in-play/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>here</a>.
