On March 24, 2022, the Interagency Steering Group on Native American Voting Rights released its report on the barriers that Native peoples face in achieving full access to participate in U.S. elections and recommendations to mitigate these barriers. This report will be translated into six Native American languages, a historic first for a government report.
Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Staff Attorney Jacqueline De León responded to the report, “We commend the Biden administration for doing the hard and necessary work of investigating, documenting, and confirming what NARF has long said: it is too hard for Native Americans to vote. We look forward to implementing the excellent recommendations made by this report, including passing the Native American Voting Rights Act, turning federal agencies that service Native Americans into National Voter Registration Act sites, and increasing addressing and mail delivery to rural Native Americans.”
The Native American Rights Fund has been intimately involved in the process of documenting the barriers Native American voters face. Years of research, including surveys and field hearings across Indian Country, led to our report “Obstacles at Every Turn: Barriers to Political Participation Faced by Native American Voters.”
The federal government’s report confirms the finding of that report that across America Native Americans face unreasonable barriers when casting their ballots. It is a strong first step in ensuring that Native American voters have equal access to the vote. NARF is proud to be part of this essential process that will help strengthen our democratic processes and begin to address a long history of discrimination and disenfranchisement at the polls. We are committed to ensuring that Native American voters are empowered and Native American voices are heard.
Learn more about Native American voting rights efforts at vote.narf.org.
More blog posts
