Native voters continue to face roadblocks, new report shows - ICT
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'For Native Americans, the right to vote has been obstructed, delayed, and denied across two centuries of United States history’

Kalle BenallieICT

Editor’s note: Sept. 15 is National Voter Registration Day. Find out more about how to register to vote here.

Native Voters have a higher rejections of voter registrations and ballots cast, and more voters removed from statewide rolls, according to a report from the The Native American Rights Fund and Blockwell Consulting.

Data collected by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission from 2020, 2022 and 2024 in the Obstacles Persist: According to the Data report showed significant barriers in the electoral process. Researchers examined 30 counties where Native Americans make up more than 25 percent of the population, as well as the 13 states with the highest number of Native residents.

These were compared with national baseline statistics.

It found specific disparities in Indian Country like voters being removed from rolls in areas where there is unreliable mail service or poll workers not accepting Tribal identification.

The report said in Apache County, Arizona there were fewer drop ballot boxes available during presidential elections, when turnout is highest, than during midterm elections, when turnout is lower.

Triston Black from Arizona Native Vote said they are happy the report came out and shows how important the work of Arizona Native Vote is.

“We know the many, many barriers and how much harder it is to vote in our areas, but sometimes you need someone to help you through the process and get over the barriers. That’s what our team does. Our team helping voters everyday understand the power of their vote, the impact of policy and civics in their lives, and that’s it’s all connected to this type of research,” he said in an email.

Some of the findings in the report include:

  • Rejections of voter registration applications by mail and at Department of Motor Vehicle offices by an average of 200 percent in counties where Native Americans are at least one-quarter of the population.
  • Between 2020 and 2024, rejections for missed deadlines increased 134 percent in counties where Native Americans make up more than 25 percent of the population, compared to a rise of 55 percent nationally.
  • The rate of provisional ballots was 15 percent lower than the national counted rate in areas with larger Native populations between 2020 and 2024.

“Voting is not a singular act, it’s a sequential process,” said NARF Senior Staff Attorney Allison Neswood. “It’s a chain of registration, voting, provisional votes, counting, and curing ballots. Even as we celebrate America’s 250th birthday, Native people really only got the practical right to vote with the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Decades of racism and systemic failures in Indian Country mean each of the steps involved in voting is precarious, and Native voters face barriers at every one. Full access to the ballot is a matter of sovereignty, self-determination, and equity.”

The report made 24 recommendations for ways to increase ballot access and successful voting for Native communities. They are to expand automatic and same-day registration to areas with larger Native populations, expanding polling place access throughout Indian Country, better outreach for election notices, ballot curing,

“For Native Americans, the right to vote has been obstructed, delayed, and denied across two centuries of United States history,” De León said. “Closing that participation gap is not simply a technical problem. It’s a question of whether American democracy is willing to extend its guarantees to all its citizens, including the first peoples of this land.”

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