"While American Indians were expected to go to the polls in record numbers on Election Day, a national organization representing more than 250 tribes is still compiling numbers on the Indian turnout.

The National Congress of American Indians targeted 18 states with significant Indian populations as part of its Native Vote campaign. As of Monday, the NCAI was prepared to release voting results for only two states, Montana and New Mexico.

"Unfortunately, NCAI as well as all of Indian Country has never had the resources or the investment from anybody to help us develop a good database or good baseline of data around elections and election turnout," said Jacqueline Johnson-Pata, NCAI executive director. "It's always been a challenge for us. This year we attempted to do the best we could using volunteers to gather the information."

Data crunchers at NCAI's policy research center are still validating information collected from volunteers. And some states still don't have official election results, Johnson-Pata said. It remains to be seen if Indian voter registration numbers rose or fell this year compared to the 2004 general election."

Get the Story:
Jodi Rave: Center studies Indian voter turnout, including in Montana (The Missoulian 12/2)

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