“We've joined forces with a larger coalition, like the ACLU, the NAACP and other minority groups, Latinos, Hispanics and Asians,” said Jacqueline Johnson, NCAI executive director, on Thursday. “We've been able to put together a 1-866-OUR-VOTE hotline for anybody in the country to be able to call.
“What we've been able to do with NCAI is make sure - that at the end of the line for people who are calling from Indian Country - is that they actually be able to talk with somebody who has knowledge about Indian Country issues. It will be a Native attorney or someone who works for a tribe.”
At least three lawsuits were filed, or settled, in 2008 after Native votes allegedly were suppressed in Alaska, Montana and Arizona.
While Native people make up less than 2 percent of the U.S. population, the Native vote in some districts is as high as 20 percent, allowing for enough voters to determine the final results of an election.
As a voting bloc, Natives tend to vote for Democratic candidates. Efforts to register and protect Native voters have intensified in recent days, especially since recent polls suggest some states that traditionally vote Republican could be tipped in favor of Democrats. Those states include Montana, North Dakota, Colorado and Nevada.
The NCAI has also focused election-protection monitoring on New Mexico, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan.
In Alaska, a lawsuit was recently settled against the state after election officials failed to provide interpreters in remote villages where Native peoples often speak an indigenous language as their first language.
The state of Alaska is making the effort to send more interpreters to the villages, said Johnson. “We will be monitoring the success of that effort and whether it met the goal of what the law requires.”
In Montana, the NCAI sent an election-protection lawyer to meet with tribal leaders after the Republican Party challenged the registration of 6,000 people who voted in the state's June primary.
A lawsuit was filed on behalf of the voters targeted in seven counties, including three counties with significant reservation populations. The suit was dropped after the GOP withdrew the challenges.
And in Arizona, poll watchers are being enlisted in greater numbers since the state enacted more stringent voter identification laws, a law that affected Natives in rural areas. The Navajo Nation and Agnes Laughter filed a lawsuit against the state, which was settled in favor of tribal peoples.
“After the 2006 election, there was a disproportionate impact on Native voters with regard to the ID law,” said Patty Ferguson Bohnee, a professor at the Arizona State School of Law. “Hopefully, the settlement will help Native voters turn out to vote.”
For more information on voting rights in Indian Country, go to www.nativevote.org.
Reporter Jodi Rave can be reached at 800-366-7186 or jodi.rave@lee.net
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Jean M. Brown wrote on Jun 2, 2009 6:53 PM:
I was the Aboriginal Woman holding Signs expressing our concerns.... "