ACLU supporter –

We just filed a lawsuit against the state of Montana for passing a new law that makes voting nearly impossible for Native Americans living on reservations. The law is one of thousands of voter suppression efforts across the country, which often target people of color.

Rural tribal communities already face significant barriers to voting – most are located far from local election offices and have limited transportation and postal services. They rely on local get-out-the-vote organizations that collect ballots and transport them to county election offices that would otherwise be inaccessible. The Montana Ballot Interference Prevention Act (BIPA) would effectively end these ballot collection initiatives – and that's why we're suing.

Learn about our case in Montana.

BIPA would impose severe restrictions on ballot collection – defining who can collect ballots and limiting collection to only six ballots per collector. Before BIPA, organizers would collect up to 100 ballots each. BIPA also threatens perjury penalties of up to 10 years in prison and fines ranging from $500 to $50,000 for violations of its arbitrary rules.

Native Americans are Montana's largest minority group, numbering nearly 70,000 people. Chilling their vote would drastically affect Montana's politics. The last Senate race was decided by only 17,913 votes. Notably, one of BIPA's co-sponsors is running for election as governor in 2020.

Read more about our lawsuit defending Native people in Montana and how it fits into a history of voter suppression against Native communities across the country.

Despite being indigenous to the land, Native Americans have long been denied their fundamental right to vote, and it wasn't until 1962 that they could vote in every state. BIPA is a legacy of the historic injustice against Native communities' voting rights – and we will take it down.

Thanks for your support,

Alora Thomas-Lundborg
ACLU Attorney, fighting for voting rights