#native voters

[magdolenelives]

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[teenvogue]

Native Voters Explain Why the Midterms Matter

American Indians and Alaskan Natives are the Original People of these lands, belonging to more than 573 tribes that predate the formation of the United States — but they’ve only had the right to vote for 53 years.

Over three hundred years after the first permanent colony was established in America, Natives became U.S. citizens through the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, but up until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, states found other reasons to deny them voting rights, like being enrolled in a tribe, or living on a reservation. Even Native soldiers returning from World War II, who risked their lives to protect America, could not vote — including code talkers, who used their own native languages to develop secret battle communications that enemies were never able to decipher.

Today there are only about 5.2 million American Indians and Alaskan Natives in the U.S., and during the 2012 presidential election, just 66% of eligible Natives were registered to vote (while 74% of eligible non-Hispanic white Americans were registered for the same election). Nevertheless, in states like Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Washington, where there is a significant Native population, these votes have the power to affect the results of state and national races. In recent years, American Indians and Alaskan Natives are credited with narrowly electing Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND). There’s still room to grow this base, though: It is estimated that 34% of the total Native population over 18 — or one million eligible voters — have yet to register to vote.

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📸: Bloomberg

[magdolenelives]

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[blackyouthproject]

Appeals court strikes down ID protections for Native North Dakota voters ahead of midterms

Appeals court strikes down ID protections for Native North Dakota voters ahead of midterms

This past Monday, a new order by a U.S. federal appeals court will hinder Native Americans’ ability to vote in North Dakota for the upcoming November 2018 elections. (more…)

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