OBSTACLES AT EVERY TURN BARRIERS TO POLITICAL PARTICIPATION FACED BY NATIVE AMERICAN VOTERS Published by: The Native American Rights Fund NARF Comprehensive Field Hearing Report 2020 “Every promise that was made to us has been broken.” OBSTACLES AT EVERY TURN BARRIERS TO POLITICAL PARTICIPATION FACED BY NATIVE AMERICAN VOTERS by THE NATIVE AMERICAN RIGHTS FUND Contributing Authors: Dr. James Thomas Tucker, NARF pro bono voting counsel Jacqueline De León, NARF Staff Attorney Dr. Dan McCool, Professor Emeritus, University of Utah Special thanks to all of the Native American Voting Rights Coalition partners whose unflagging support made this report possible. Full acknowledgments are included at the end of the report. NARF Comprehensive Field Hearing Report 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART 1: OVERVIEW..........................................................................................................................................1 Introduction and Summary of Report.......................................................................................................1 1. Overview of Findings........................................................................................................................1 2. About The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) and The Native American Voting RightsCoalition (NAVRC)........................................................................................................................................3 3. TheNAVRC’ s Field Hearings............................................................................................................4 4. Impact of Native American Voters..................................................................................................6 PART 2: HISTORY.............................................................................................................................................9 A. Historical Barriers to Voting in Indian Country...................................................................................9 1. Attempts to Annihilate Native American Populations......................................................................9 2. Attempts to Forcibly Assimilate.....................................................................................................10 3. Historical Denial of Indian Voting...................................................................................................11 a. State Constitutional Prohibitions..............................................................................................11 b. Residency Requirements..........................................................................................................11 c. Requirements to Abandon Tribal Culture................................................................................12 d. Taxation................................................................................................................................12 e. Guardianship.........................................................................................................................13 f. Literacy Tests..........................................................................................................................14 4. From Despair to Empowerment......................................................................................................14 a. Statutes................................................................................................................................14 b. Court Cases............................................................................................................................16 c. Native Activism......................................................................................................................16 Table of Contents B. The Voting Rights Act: Summary of Cases on Behalf of Native American Voters...............................17 1. Language Assistance......................................................................................................................19 2. Redistricting/Malapportionment/At-Large Elections....................................................................19 3. Elections Procedures....................................................................................................................20 4. Voter Identification......................................................................................................................22 5. Help America Vote Act/Section 5................................................................................................23 6. Conclusion...................................................................................................................................24 PART 3: CURRENT LANDSCAPE............................................................................................................27 Overview of Contemporary Impediments to Political Participation.........................................................27 1. General Factors Discouraging Participation...................................................................................27 2. Geographic Isolation.....................................................................................................................28 3. Physical and Natural Barriers........................................................................................................29 4. Poor or Non-Existent Roads.........................................................................................................31 5. Distance, Travel Time, and Limited Hours of Non-Tribal Government Offices..............................32 6. Technological Barriers and The Digital Divide...............................................................................34 7. Low Levels of Educational Attainment.........................................................................................37 8. Depressed Socio-Economic Conditions..........................................................................................37 9. Homelessness and Housing Insecurity..........................................................................................38 10. Non-Traditional Mailing Addresses...............................................................................................40 11. Lack of Resources and Funding...................................................................................................42 12. Discrimination Against Native Americans....................................................................................43 a. Distrust of Non-Tribal Governments.....................................................................................43 b. Present Day Overt Discrimination.........................................................................................44 PART 4: NATIVE LANGUAGES................................................................................................................49 Language Barriers and Lack of Effective Language Assistance...................................................................49 1. Legal Requirements and Section 203 Coverage...............................................................................49 2. Decreased Coverage in 2011 for AIAN Languages............................................................................50 NARF Comprehensive Field Hearing Report 2020 3. Coverage in 2016 for AIAN Languages..............................................................................................51 4. Written Translations in AIAN Languages........................................................................................53 5. Translation Challenges...................................................................................................................56 6. Denial of Voter Assistance...............................................................................................................57 7. Failure of Covered Jurisdiction to Provide Required Language Assistance........................................58 a. Alaska.........................................................................................................................58 b. Arizona.............................................................................................................................61 c. New Mexico........................................................................................................................62 d. San Juan County, Utah.........................................................................................................62 PART 5: BARRIERS TO VOTER REGISTRATION................................................................................65 1. Legal Overview..............................................................................................................................65 a. The National Voter Registration Act....................................................................................65 b. Help America Vote Act.......................................................................................................68 2. Litigation Under The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments and The Voting Rights Act...............69 a. The Voting Rights Act.........................................................................................................69 b. Equal Protection...................................................................................................................70 3. Lack of a Traditional Mailing Address as a Barrier to Registration....................................................70