Having to Drive 98 Miles to Vote Is Un-American, Yet Some Native Americans are Expected to Do Just That | Opinion
By: Levi Rickert (Native News Online)
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- Native Vote 2022
Details By Levi Rickert October 02, 2022
Opinion. In an effort to increase voting access for underrepresented communities, President Joe Biden signed an executive order in March 2021 to study barriers to voting among underrepresented groups.
One year later, the White House released the 54-page Report of the Interagency Steering Group on Native American Voting Rights.
Drawing from consultation and listening sessions, the report cited several problems that were a cause for concern, including language barriers, a lack of accessibility for voters with disabilities, cultural disrespect and outright hostility, the consequences of extreme physical distance and persistent poverty, and the compounding impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"For far too long, members of tribal nations and Native communities have faced unnecessary burdens when they attempt to exercise their sacred right to vote," the report read.
While the report outlined plenty of problems, it also praised the Nevada Legislature's 2021 passage of a bill that allowed tribal nations to request a voting poll site or ballot drop box on their reservation land that would return each election cycle.
Prior to the legislation, Nevada's 28 federally recognized tribes did not have the option to request polling sites on their reservations. With the new regulations in place, denying tribal nation requests for polling places was going to be more difficult.
Or so it was thought.
In a recent broadcast of our Native Bidaske show, Native voter advocate OJ Semans, Sr. (Sicangu Oyate), shared a story of how county election officials in Nevada have made voting that much more difficult for citizens of the Shoshone Paiute Tribes of Duck Valley Indian Reservation. In the coming election, tribal members will only have eight hours to vote over two separate dates on their reservation for early voting.
By comparison, in most elections across the country, Americans are afforded at least 12 hours to vote on election day, not eight hours.
The decision to allow two days of early voting with just four hours per day was handed down by the Elko County County Clerk's Office in Elko, Nevada.
Tribal citizens can still vote off-reservation at a county voting site, but that would require those living on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation to drive a minimum of 98 miles each way — a round trip of nearly 200 miles — to vote.
As the Report of the Interagency Steering Group on Native American Voting Rights notes "the consequences of extreme physical distance" is an extreme barrier to voting or a means to suppress the Native vote.
On the Native Bidaske episode, Seamans went on to explain the roads from the reservation are winding roads at various elevations. A round trip of 200 miles can take three to four hours to drive depending on traffic conditions.
To combat this ridiculous injustice handed down by the Elko County clerk, tribal leaders from the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservations filed on a 14-page lawsuit against the Elko County officials who were named as defendants, including five county commissioners, the county clerk and three deputy clerks for their failure to comply with state law to provide adequate polling places on the Indian reservation.
"Defendant's failure to establish temporary polling locations on the Reservation as requested threatens the health and safety of the Tribes' members who must travel at least 98 miles one-way to Elko County to cast their vote. These members must set aside one hour and 47 minutes during a pandemic to travel poorly-maintained roads…Coupled with the high cost of gasoline, these hurdles will be insurmountable unless a temporary polling location is established," reads a portion of the lawsuit.
The current failure by the Elko County Clerk's Office is consistent with the findings in June 2020 by the Native American Rights Fund's Native American Voting Rights Coalition entitled Obstacles at Every Turn: Barriers to Political Participation Faced by Native American Voters.
"Regardless of whether they live in urban or rural areas, members of the 574 federally recognized tribes face many contemporary barriers to political participation. Although many other American voters share some of these obstacles, no other racial or ethnic group faces the combined weight of these barriers to the same degree as Native voters in Indian Country," the report says.
Having to drive 98 miles one-way to vote - regardless of race or ethnic group - should be deemed un-American. We hope the court agrees.
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Montana district judge just reversed a law for the 3rd time suppressing NA votes. Also North Dakota and South Dakota have tried the same thing and lost in court recently.
typical rwnj bullshit...
Sadly, that is true.
Can you prove that "the right" caused this?
can you prove they didn't?
When I voted in person it would be a 50+ mile round trip.
I have been voting by mail for the last few years as a result.
2008 was the last time I voted in person. I've voted by mail ever since.
Who wants to make Native lives more difficult? Why?
I think that the article answers that question, JBB.
It's been that way for Natives and voting for decades.
Morning... voting here is compulsory and I think that is one of the advantages and it works well..you register at 18 and many look at it as a coming of age.
No matter where you live or what back ground you have you have to vote or get fined unless you have a damn good excuse.
People in the outback in remote communities, or on cattle stations as in 500ks to the nearest towns etc voting forms are flown in. If you are living in Antarctica at the base or deployed overseas you vote. I voted when I was living in the UK. Or people can use postal voting if that's easier for the elderly etc or you can't make it to a polling booth. Not many places here don't get some form of mail regardless of location.
Makes no difference if you are in a Labor or Liberal State or Territory...we have none of the continuous drama's you mob have over there and it's all over in a matter of hours. Yes we still use pencil and paper ballot forms. And no one bats an eye lid when we have a change of government as we did in May.
We have a State election next month and it is the same process...geez I can't wait for that..🙄
That is one of the things that has always impressed me about Oz. My kids and grandkids can't wrap their heads around trying to disenfranchise voters (minorities) from voting.
Good on OZ.
As a remote outsider that really knows little about Australian politics, it seems to me that while you are experiencing less political polarization since you have instituted preferential voting and have done a better job of maintaining a balanced seperation of power between federal, territorial and local government.
Morning Kavika...maybe it's time the US made voting compulsory as it stamps out all that type of BS that goes on there and in other countries...
You have a right to vote so why people don't do it is beyond me... especially when they have polling booths in cities and towns..
Yes I understand when it comes to remote communities but it is the government's responsibility to see that everyone is catered for... regardless of who they are, or where they live...and that is reflection on the country itself...
For the world's greatest democracy there are many holes they can and should be filled...and by the sounds of it should have been done years ago.
Our system is not perfect but certainly sounds like it exceeds the US on this most basic of rights...
Morning Drinker..I think you to many States..🤣 Is it 51 you have?
We have six States and two Territories makes life somewhat easier...and roughly the same land mass...
Hell it drives us nuts when South Australia has something different to Victoria, or New South Wales does something different to Queensland etc...
State and Federal have always been very separate but when circumstances require it, we will work together regardless of political parties involved...and voting for everyone is one.
And therein lies one of the major problems. Voting rights for centuries had been withheld from minorities, of course there have been improvements but as this article and case show those rights are still being attacked.
" Though a majority of Native American voters support the Democratic Party"
Native Americans in United States elections - Wikipedia
I don't really think there is any mystery as to why red States do just about everything they can to disenfranchise native American voters just like they do other minorities that tend to vote for Democrats.
Nevada is a blue or purple state and the Blue is Clark County (Las Vegas) and Washoe county (Reno) the rest of the state is bright red. Elko county is very bright red and the history of many of the towns and counties not named Washoe or Clark have a long history of racism against NAs.
In the article, it wasn't until 2021 that tribes were allowed to request polling places on the rez. All that said having lived in Nevada I'm quite familiar with the makeup and where and where not to go as an Indian. There are still a few signs around that say ''no Indians allowed''.
The act by Elko county isn't a surprise at all. It's just another in a long line of acts trying to suppress the Native vote.
We have to waste time, money, and energy fighting this type of racism and have for decades. AIAN has had a very low turnout in elections for years the suppression has worked. Times are now changing as can be seen in numerous court cases through the US that we are now winning in the voting area.
It shouldn't matter what party a demographic votes for, it's just downright unAmerican.
Sadly, there is one major political party that has been caught time and time again intentionally crafting voting laws that disenfranchise their opponents' likely voters.
North Carolina Voter ID Law Still Struck Down, Despite Republican Appeals : The Two-Way : NPR
Realizing they've been doing that to native Americans as well should come as no surprise. And yes, through that and the attempt to violently overturn a national election because they lost, they prove themselves "downright unAmerican", or perhaps we should say "down right wing unAmerican". I'm sure they don't see themselves as "unAmerican", they believe they are just working hard at preventing anyone who, according to them, is "unAmerican" from voting. And it's just a coincidence that virtually all those folk they diligently disenfranchise happen to be those who don't look like them or pray like them since white rightwing conservative Republicans clearly consider themselves the very definition of "real Americans".
The suppression of the native vote doesn't get as much coverage as the black vote, but it has been going on since we were named US citizens in 1924 by the federal government. It wasn't until 1962 that all states finally understood that.
My father was born before we were citizens in our own country. A veteran of WWII and having fought in three of the most vicious battles in the Pacific, Tarawa, Saipan, and Okinawa he came home with a Silver Star and Purple Heart with two clusters. Yet when he and thousands of other native veterans which included many of my relatives went to vote they were met with literacy tests and police intimidation. This in many ways has not changed except that they now attempt to do it by passing BS laws.
In the 2016 election a month before the election where Tribal ID have always been accepted by the US government as valid ID the county changed the rules that they could no longer be used as ID for voting. A judge heard an emergency plea and overruled another BS law. It doesn't sound like a problem for those that don't live on a rez but many of the older residents don't drive and the tribal ID is their lifeline.
It never seems to end for us. There was a great study done that tracks the voter suppression of the Native vote.
So another day, another BS attempt to suppress our vote, nothing new we have been dealing with it since 1924.
Are you implying that Native Americans generally favor one party over the other?
Nobody know thus far of any such tendencies:
"Data limitations have made it difficult for scholars and pundits to explore the voting behavior of the Native American electorate in past elections."
I don't believe that is what she is saying but I'll answer that question:
yes, they do.
“It never seems to end for us.”
In a never ending attempt to suppress the darkest chapter of our American story.
Thank you for your voice in bringing the disparities to light, even in this small community.
One day, some day, we may begin to right the wrongs…
That's not good enough.
Link please
Vic,
I meant in general.
As I pointed out: there is no documented evidence of that.
Just a feeling you have?
A few here have made assumptions. One is that Native Americans are being deliberately prevented from voting. They also assume the right is behind it and then is the assumption that Native Americans vote democrat.
Best you actually read your own link.
You're the one making assumptions
Oh I did. The fact that Biden got more support than Trump is hardly an indicator of Native Americans being in the bag for democrats.
What you convieniently avoided is the most important line:
"Data limitations have made it difficult for scholars and pundits to explore the voting behavior of the Native American electorate in past elections."
In other words you have no evidence of any of your assumptions?
GOT IT!
His links never back up his claims. Usually contrary/contradictory for the sake of being contrary/contradictory
You're the one, as always, making assumptions with no evidence, as usual
First off I never said the Indians ''were in the bag for dem'' that is your ignorant comment. Especially ignorant when three congressman are Republican NAs. and three are dems.
Since AZ was brought up in your link here that gives you the native vote in 2020 for AZ.
Ignorant comments?
Oh that's our very own loophole, isn't it?
Everybody saw the assumptions made here. None of which were backed up.
No, actually it was your comment and it's still ignorant.
Everybody saw the factual backup by me which included your link. If you choose not to read the link on AZ that is your inability to admit that once again you are out of your league and totally wrong.
Here is another link that proves my point for Montana. I can keep this up state by state for quite some time.
Don't waste your time, Kavika, life is too short .
That's true pat, but in this case, I can't let BS pass as fact so I enjoy taking it apart with facts and watching them run and hide.
Once again you are out of your league. Both of those items have been proven with articles and links.
Lol, when they don't have an intelligent response they run away like cockroaches when the light's turned on.
LOL, yup.
Kavika,
We had this discussion on another seed as well. The United States is the richest country in the world. And we see politicians from both sides who come out to tell us that our democracy is stronger when everybody votes. There's really no reason why there cannot be polling stations on reservations. It should be handled like polling stations anywhere else, staffed by volunteer locals. And as I said elsewhere, due to the poverty of members on reservations the tribal leadership should have a busing system to bring people to the polls or tribal leadership should set up an official collection process where ballots can be picked up (by registered members, not registered by a political party) and brought in.
I see the usual suspects pushing their belief that it's one specific political party that does this but if everybody could be honest they could admit that it's both parties that play this game when they feel it's in their interest to do so. Politicians are beholding to their political party over the citizenry and the citizenry follows along in lock-step based on their party membership. Until the people grow up and realize that the political parties are not doing things for the people, this sort of issue will continue.
Its not both parties that do this.
Your claims otherwise are tiresome
But not as tiresome as your constant 'Nah uh'
I can't make you see reality but you continue to re-enforce the belief that some people blindly follow the partisan footprints of their political party and exclude anything that shows differently.
The simple truth is there is too much money and power in the two party system and neither political party has been honest in it's dealings with the American public for quite some time. Oh some times something will come out that does do some good for people but it always comes are part of a larger power gain for a political party. But the primary purpose is always to increase the money and power of the partisan party and that won't change until the people take the power back.
Yeah, yeah yeah . . .
If you are now trying to convince me that you were the fifth Beatle, it's not working...
Ok tess, Snuffy let's get back to the article.
Thanks.
Yes, we have had this conservation before and I'll state once again. There is no reason that Natives should have to jump through hoops or file lawsuits to overturn illegal laws. Time for those that keep trying this shit to stop and act like what America is supposed to be.
Agreed.
This is a more visible problem on reservations due to the level of poverty experienced by tribal members.
That is true for some reservations as are huge distances, lack of broadband etc. but the biggest problem is constanly having to fight illegal laws that try to limit our ability to cast our vote.
Elon Musk's StarLink can address that.
SpaceX’s upcoming satellite internet service can indeed supply fast internet to remote areas, according to a Native American tribe in Washington state .
That was in the Fall of 2000, now SpaceX has over 2,300 functioning Starlink satellites in orbit, and over 500,000 active subscribers. They continue to launch up to 53 more satellites per Falcon 9 flight. The Ukraine depends on it in it ongoing war with Russia.
It is already being done in the far reaches of Alaska for tribes. I'm hopeful that that it will become available through out Alaska and the lower 48.
Musk StarLink is a great system and a boom to NAs living in remote areas that are lacking internet.
That's all well and good but there are still something like 14,000 homes on a Navajo reservation that do not have electricity. An estimated 30% of homes on the Navajo reservation do not have running water.
With all the wealth in this country and all the fricking money that gets wasted by the federal government every year, this is a problem that should have been resolved years ago. But there's no power in doing such things and that's all our political parties are interested in.
I don't know the numbers, but there has been significant progress over the last five years with solar power to individual homes and reservation communities. I think that there are now two or three utility-scale solar plants not only supply the local community but selling power to other cities. Funding is a mix of federal grants, utility company donations, corporate donations and tribal funds.
It is getting better. The 14,000 number is from Light Up Navajo 2022 which was paused due to Covid but is back at it now.
I had commented on another thread about using solar. I remember renting a house many years back down in Rocky Point, Mexico. The house had a single solar panel on the roof and had a utility room with some batteries and an inverter which powered the entire house. The house was total electric including an electric stove, TV and air conditioning. The single solar panel provided all the power needed for this house during our week long stay. This type of setup was not that expensive, but was not done here in the US for some of the most needy housing on the reservations. It could have been, but you know, politicians....
Must have been a large and sunny roof!
I live off grid and can't understand why anybody would bother putting in solar panels without the batteries!
I thought coverage in Alaska was in it infancy and below 54.5 degrees latitude, but area coverage and broadband speeds will continue to improve as more birds are launched.
Trump held a rally last night in Minden NV. a former ''sundown town'' that still holds on to its racist past.
And the usual suspects showed up.
Holding a rally to gain donations for victims of Ian would have been the right thing to do, morally and politically.
Yes, it would have. Sadly what we have is more of a never-ending freak show.