Minnesota Indians who live off the reservation will be able to vote on Tuesday using their tribal identification cards thanks to a ruling issued on Friday.

U.S. District Judge James Rosenbaum issued a temporary restraining order against the state. He said the state has no basis in federal law for restricting the use of tribal IDs off the reservation.

The National Congress of American Indians, the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union and three Minnesota Indians filed suit last week. "Now I can vote," Mille Lacs tribal member Bonnie Dorr-Charwood told The Minneapolis Star Tribune. Dorr-Charwood, 50, lives in Minneapolis and only has a tribal ID.

Minnesota is one of the target states for the Native Vote 2004 campaign. Tribal leaders say there are 33,000 eligible Indian voters in the state.

Get the Story:
Order broadens use of Indian IDs (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 10/30)
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Relevant Links:
American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota - http://www.aclu-mn.org
National Congress of American Indians - http://www.ncai.org

Related Stories:
Hearing set in Minnesota tribal voter ID case (10/29)
Minnesota targeted in Native Vote 2004 campaign (10/14)
County won't allow Indians to use tribal ID to register (10/06)