ACLU Supporter –

Yesterday, we went to court – the ACLU and the ACLU of Montana, alongside our co-counsel at the Native American Rights Fund and the Election Law Clinic at Harvard Law School – to challenge two voting laws that drastically hinder the participation of Indigenous people in the state's electoral process.

Our legal teams will be at trial until August 26 to defend voting rights and Indigenous rights – and so we want you to have the quick and crucial facts around the case now. Here's a rundown:

• The Montana 13th Judicial District Court is presiding over this two-week bench trial for Western Native Voice v. Jacobsen, a case we are bringing on behalf of four tribal governments and two Native American-led civic participation organizations. This case has been consolidated with lawsuits filed by the Montana Democratic Party and various youth voting organizations.
• At trial, the two discriminatory voting laws that we'll be fighting to stop are HB 176 and HB 530.
• HB 176 ends Election Day registration, which Native American voters living on reservations disproportionately rely upon to cast votes in Montana. HB 530 prohibits paid third-party ballot assistance, a practice also heavily relied upon by Native Americans living on reservations.
• Less than two years ago, multiple courts in Montana ruled that a law substantially similar to HB 530 was unconstitutional – and yet, the Montana Legislature went ahead and passed the new voter suppression law anyway.
• Voting has never been easy for Native Americans living on Montana's rural reservations due to systemic disenfranchisement – and these new laws create more obstacles.

ACLU Supporter, given the rising tide of voter suppression around the country targeting communities of color, the importance for every single voter to have equal access to the ballot – and an equal say in electing officials whose policies impact our lives – has never been clearer or more significant.

That's why we're at court today in Montana – and that's why we will never stop fighting until every person in this country knows their voting rights are safe and secure.

For the people,

Jonathan Topaz
Pronouns: He, him, his
Staff Attorney at the Voting Rights Project, ACLU

Alex Rate
Pronouns: He, him, his
Legal Director, ACLU of Montana