Dear John,
 
If you are a voter on one of Montana's reservations, you have to
work hard to make your voice heard. Reservations in Montana are remote
and there is limited US postal service, with many homes never
receiving mail delivery or pick up. In some communities, like Big Horn
County, Montana, Native American voters had to travel twice as far as
non-Native voters to cast their ballot. This combination of unequal
treatment and unreasonable distances clearly communicates to people in
tribal communities that their vote doesn't matter- the
system is not for them.

And, incredibly, Montana just made it harder for Native Americans to vote.

Native communities use get-out-the-vote drives to collect ballots and
take them to distant elections offices. For those with limited access
to transportation or postal services, it is the only way that they are
able to vote. Montana's new Ballot Interference Prevention Act
(BIPA), makes these civic actions a crime. BIPA restricts who can
collect ballots and allows organizers to submit only six ballots each.
Bringing ballots to the post office for relatives or neighbors could
result in fines from $500 to $50,000.

BIPA ignores the everyday realities that face Native American
communities. It is not reasonable to expect voters to drive an hour to
drop off their ballot, so collecting ballots in reservation
communities just makes sense. Criminalizing dropping off ballots for
fellow community members is unfair to Native American voters and does
nothing to solve the real problem of mail not being picked up and
delivered to Native homes.

So, NARF filed suit on behalf of five tribal nations-the
Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes of Fort Peck, Blackfeet Nation,
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation,
Crow Tribe, and Fort Belknap Indian Community-and joined forces
with the ACLU and the ACLU of Montana representing Native
get-out-the-vote organizations. We sued the state to stop this
restrictive and arbitrary law.

Learn more about the lawsuit we just filed in Montana.
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Montana's BIPA is one more example of the ongoing efforts to
take away the voice of indigenous Americans. NARF is committed to
protecting the rights of Native voters and our shared ideal of
democracy.

We ask for your support. Your gift today can help protect Native voting
rights and justice for tribal members.


Thank you for standing strong for justice, especially during this time
of crisis.

 Jacqueline De León
(Isleta Pueblo)
NARF Staff Attorney

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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