Millions of voters in the U.S. will cast their ballots in today’s U.S. election.
Behind the scenes, Indigenous-led advocacy organizations are working tirelessly to get Indigenous voters to the polls.
Months before Super Tuesday, Michelle Sparck and the team at Get Out the Native Vote (GOTNV) in Alaska launched a statewide campaign through the Rural Indigenous Outreach program.
“We hired 30 folks from all over the state, from all kinds of tribes, all kinds of people, who are helping engage in voter education and outreach,” Sparck, the campaign’s director of strategic initiatives said.
In northern communities, Sparck said promoting democratic engagement begins with keeping the lights on at the post office.
“We don’t have reliable postal operations or hours. You know, you see on Facebook an announcement that the post office is open,” she said. “When we have chronic postal issues and chronic staffing issues with the election workers working in these small communities, you’re going to have mistakes, you’re going to have stuff that costs your vote being fully counted.”
GOTNV is working to fill those gaps. The team is prepared to dispatch up to ten trained election workers to ensure every village is staffed on election day.
On the West Coast, the Native Vote Washington team spent months bolstering voter education through the Voting is Good Medicine field program.
“We are knocking on doors and talking to voters,” executive director Alyssa Macy said. “We have mailed three pieces of literature to every registered voter in every reservation community in the state of Washington…and if folks have not voted, they will get one more right before the election.”
For Indigenous voters living in rural and tribal communities, getting to a polling station is a common barrier.
“In some communities, they don’t have a voting box,” Macy said. “Driving to town for some people, assuming you have a car is a relatively easy thing to do. But what if you don’t have a car? What if you’re an elder with, you know, limited means to get around?”
While Macy encourages voters to cast their ballots early, she worries about growing voter suppression.
Last week, two ballot boxes were set on fire in Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon.
“I was shocked that somebody would actually do that,” Macy said. “Anybody who voted in that area who may have dropped their ballot in that box now has to go through a process to get another ballot to be able to vote. So, it just creates a very complicated scenario.”
North of the border
On Tuesday, APTN News spoke with University of British Columbia political science professor Stewart Prest about what’s at stake for Indigenous voters.
“We have a vastly different view of Indigenous rights and the place of Indigenous peoples in the United States and by extension on both sides of the border between the two candidates,” Prest said. “I think the stakes are high, and that’s the sort of thing that can mobilize voters, and Indigenous voters in this case, to actually show up because it really does matter.”
Prest notes that if Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris wins, Minnesota Lieutenant Governor, Peggy Flanagan, could become the first Indigenous female governor in U.S. history.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, is among those north of the border vying for a Harris presidency.
“It will be something to celebrate because it pushes back against the political extremism, it pushes back against racism and political violence,” Phillips told APTN in a Tuesday interview. “We will gain an ally in that regard.”
‘We have influence and we have power’
The presidential election comes less than two weeks after outgoing president Joe Biden apologized for the U.S. Indian Boarding School system.
Macy said the apology must be followed by action.
“What is the process to heal from that? What are the resources invested to support that type of healing?” Macy said. “Those are questions that I personally have.”
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This year also marks the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Indian Citizenship Act.
While the fight for Native American rights continues, Macy believes this election is an opportunity.
“To see where Native people show up and have this impact I think is just an opportunity for us to be visible in the states that we reside in, and to demonstrate that we have influence and we have power, and we’re going to use that to elect people that care about the things that we need for our communities,” Macy said.
The polls will begin to close Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. ET. However, with a tight race, it could take days before a winner is declared.
With files from Tina House
