Have Republicans Rallied the Native Vote? - 猫咪社区! Magazine Solutions Journalism

Native voters in North and South Dakota embrace the value of their vote since Standing Rock.

5 MIN READ

Oct 26, 2018

With midterms just weeks away, tribes are mobilizing voters in response to the recent Supreme Court ruling that upheld a 2017 North Dakota Voter ID law requiring residents to provide identification with a current street address to vote.

The law disproportionately affects Native voters in North Dakota and could curtail the Native vote in a state where Democratic incumbent Sen. Heidi Heitkamp is trailing Republican challenger U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer. Native voters typically vote for Democrats.

Tribes are now pushing back against disenfranchisement of Native voters by Republican leadership in North Dakota, but it remains to be seen if that will save Heitkamp鈥檚 seat.

鈥淲hatever happens in the Dakotas can be a prediction of what the country could look like,鈥� Allison Renville, a citizen of the Sisseton Sioux Tribe, said. 鈥淭he bigger question is, how can we see each other as human beings who are vulnerable to poverty and suffering instead of in partisan ways?鈥�

Her reservation is called 鈥渢he Triangle鈥� locally because of its shape. Like the Standing Rock Sioux reservation on the other side of the state, it straddles both North and South Dakota.

Approximately 18,000 North Dakota residents also lack supplemental documentation sufficient to permit them to vote without a qualifying ID.

Tribes in North and South Dakota have been put on high alert by the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld a voter identification law in North Dakota. In her dissent, the confusion and difficulty this sudden change in requirements to vote poses to one in five North Dakota voters. Even as recently as the primary, voters were allowed to vote with IDs using post office box addresses in place of street addresses.

鈥淚f the Eighth Circuit鈥檚 stay is not vacated, the risk of disfranchisement is large,鈥� wrote Justice Ginsberg in her dissent. 鈥淭he Eighth Circuit observed that voters have a month to 鈥榓dapt鈥� to the new regime. But that observation overlooks specific fact-findings by the District Court: (1) 70,000 North Dakota residents鈥攁lmost 20 percent of the turnout in a regular quadrennial election鈥攍ack a qualifying ID; and (2) approximately 18,000 North Dakota residents also lack supplemental documentation sufficient to permit them to vote without a qualifying ID. The law will disproportionately impact Native American voters.鈥� That鈥檚 because many reservations do not use street addresses, and Native residents often use P.O. boxes and have tribal identification that does not include an address.

Native leaders have suggested a number of fixes for rural reservation residents to . One is for individuals to for free. This is the address 911 emergency vehicles use to find rural homes. , though residents may not be aware of those addresses. But instead of tribes requesting 911 addresses in bulk for all their residents, individuals have to figure out which of 53 coordinators they can call.

The Native American Rights Fund, the oldest and largest nonprofit law firm dedicated to asserting and defending the rights of Indian tribes, on October 18 it is working with four North Dakota tribes: the Spirit Lake Tribe, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, and the Three Affiliated Tribes, also known as MHA Nation. All of these tribes are issuing new tribal IDs, free of charge, with street addresses.

Assistance is also coming to North Dakota tribes from South Dakota tribes, namely from Four Directions, a Native voting advocacy group from the Rosebud Sioux reservation in South Dakota. According to reporting by The Bismarck Tribune, Four Directions is helping North Dakota tribes implement a strategy of to issue letters with proof of address to anyone who needs them.

And the Standing Rock Sioux tribe has and shared it on its Facebook page:

In the Dakotas, Native voters . And this is true across the country. In every red state, the counties with reservation land are usually the blue holdouts.

Despite the role of Native American voters in her election, the incumbent Democrat Heitkamp for meaningful consultation on the building of the Dakota Access pipeline in the high-profile standoff between the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and the Texas-based pipeline owner Energy Transfer Partners. She also characterized the protesters, who preferred to be called 鈥渨ater protectors,鈥� as violent and called for more funding of law enforcement. In 2015, the Heitkamp voted to pipeline bill that tribes also opposed.

鈥淚 think she was caught in the middle,鈥� former Standing Rock Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault . 鈥淏ut when her hand was forced, she chose the pipeline. She always said she supported Indian Country, but when all of Indian Country from across the nation was at Standing Rock鈥攕he didn鈥檛 show up.鈥�

Even as Heitkamp tours Native American communities, a few tribal members of tribal concerns on DAPL. Yet, others faced with the choice of Republican Kevin Cramer are . Her recent co-sponsorship of the in the Senate and her support for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act are often cited.

The recent organizing to mobilize the Native vote in North Dakota is the latest example of a push to energize the Native vote in reservations and communities throughout Indian Country.

鈥淲hen I ran in 2016 was the first time a lot of my family voted,鈥� said Ruth Buffalo, a citizen of the MHA Nation running for District 27 of the North Dakota House of Representatives. 鈥淪eeing me run broke down those barriers to voting. They realized it鈥檚 not as hard as you think it is.鈥�

Indeed, in 2018 more Native American candidates, especially women, are running than ever before鈥攖racked by #SheRepresents on Twitter. Across the country, are running at the county, state, and federal level.

It remains to be seen if seeing Native Americans run for office will bring more Native voters to the polls.

It鈥檚 not known if seeing Native Americans run for office, both at the local and in high profile national campaigns, will bring more Native voters to the polls. If it does, it could challenge Republicans in red states where a largely blue Native vote could eliminate the margins of victory, as was the case in North Dakota in 2012.

Since her support of the DAPL, Heitkamp has taken other steps that could regain support from Native constituents. Recently, she has championed , which addresses the issue of the who are missing鈥攐r their murders uninvestigated鈥攊n Canada and the United States.

Heitkamp鈥檚 Republican opponent U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer , calling them 鈥渓awless mobs鈥� engaged in a 鈥渇ull-fledged riot鈥� aided by 鈥渂ad actors, celebrities, and political extremists.鈥� And between the two candidates on October 18, Cramer derisively called protest against Kavanaugh鈥檚 nomination 鈥渕ob rule.鈥� Heitkamp voted against confirming the Supreme Court justice.

Buffalo, going door to door, talking to voters in Fargo, North Dakota, recently discussed the Standing Rock protests with a married couple, both white voters, in her district. Buffalo said the man expressed distress over seeing 鈥淲ater Is Life,鈥� the slogan of water protectors at Standing Rock, painted on a building as he drove through the town of Cannonball near the site of the former protest camp. The woman said she was opposed to abortion and wondered how they could protect anyone at all if they can鈥檛 protect the most vulnerable鈥攎eaning the unborn. Buffalo said, 鈥淭he most vulnerable are Native Americans, and all they want is clean water and a clean place for their children to grow up in.鈥�

She hopes conversations like this can help heal a divided state. 鈥淚t鈥檚 time for North Dakota to catch up. We like our wholesome rural communities, but we need to grow together and view each other as human beings.鈥�