{"id":13802,"date":"2021-07-09T09:48:52","date_gmt":"2021-07-09T13:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=13802"},"modified":"2021-07-09T09:49:43","modified_gmt":"2021-07-09T13:49:43","slug":"tribes-and-tribal-citizens-accuse-south-dakota-of-violating-voting-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/07\/09\/tribes-and-tribal-citizens-accuse-south-dakota-of-violating-voting-laws\/","title":{"rendered":"Tribes and tribal citizens accuse South Dakota of violating voting laws"},"content":{"rendered":" <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/07\/09\/tribes-and-tribal-citizens-accuse-south-dakota-of-violating-voting-laws\/oglalalakotacounty-2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-13806\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1536\" height=\"1152\" data-attachment-id=\"13806\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/07\/09\/tribes-and-tribal-citizens-accuse-south-dakota-of-violating-voting-laws\/oglalalakotacounty-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/09\/oglalalakotacounty.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1536,1152\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone 5c&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1413731542&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;4.12&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;50&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.025&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Oglala Lakota County\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;In November 2014, Native voters approved a new name for the county encompassing the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota: Oglala Lakota County. Photo: &lt;a href=https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/neeta_lind\/15562086606\/&gt;Neeta Lind&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/09\/oglalalakotacounty-1024x768.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/09\/oglalalakotacounty.jpg\" alt=\"Oglala Lakota County\"   class=\"size-full wp-image-13806\" \/><\/a> <figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">In November 2014, Native voters approved a new name for the county encompassing the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota: Oglala Lakota County. Photo: <a href=https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/neeta_lind\/15562086606\/>Neeta Lind<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\">Tribes and tribal citizens accuse South Dakota of violating voting laws<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Friday, July 9, 2021<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"byline\">By <A href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kevin_Abourezk\">Kevin Abourezk<\/A> <A href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kevin_Abourezk\"><I aria-hidden=true class=\"fab fa-twitter\"><\/I><\/A><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"source\">Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nTwo new individual plaintiffs and the <a href=\"https:\/\/lakotalaw.org\">Lakota People\u2019s Law Project<\/a> have joined the <a href=\"https:\/\/oglalalakotanation.info\">Oglala Sioux<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rosebudsiouxtribe-nsn.gov\">Rosebud Sioux<\/a> tribes in suing the state of South Dakota, claiming state officials have routinely violated a federal law that requires states to help their citizens register to vote.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThe Lakota People\u2019s Law Project, Rosebud Sioux tribal citizen Kimberly Dillon and Standing Rock Sioux tribal citizen Hoksila White Mountain have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.narf.org\/sd-nvra\/\">joined the two Sioux tribes in a lawsuit<\/a> that was filed in September 2020, according to an amended filing submitted to the U.S. District Court Thursday by legal firms the <a href=https:\/\/www.narf.org\/>Native American Rights Fund<\/a> and Demos.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThe lawsuit alleges South Dakota state officials and employees have violated the National Voter Registration Act, also known as Motor-Voter, which requires states to help register citizens to vote through the Department of Motor Vehicles and other state-run public assistance agencies.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n&#8220;With this suit, Native American voters seek to ensure that the American freedom to vote is not restricted by negligent actions by the state of South Dakota,&#8221; said Oglala Sioux Tribe President Kevin Killer.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<div class=row><div class=col-7><a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/07\/09\/tribes-and-tribal-citizens-accuse-south-dakota-of-violating-voting-laws\/kimberlydillon\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-13804\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" data-attachment-id=\"13804\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/07\/09\/tribes-and-tribal-citizens-accuse-south-dakota-of-violating-voting-laws\/kimberlydillon\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/09\/kimberlydillon.png\" data-orig-size=\"1080,1080\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Kimberly Dillon\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;\u201cI was denied the opportunity to cast a vote in the 2020 presidential election because the state didn\u2019t process my voter registration,\u201d said Kimberly Dillon, citizen of Rosebud Sioux Tribe. \u201cHow many other people faced this violation of our basic freedom to vote? We cannot allow voter suppression to continue in South Dakota or anywhere in Native America.\u201d Image courtesy &lt;a href=https:\/\/www.narf.org\/sd-nvra\/&gt;Native American Rights Fund&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/09\/kimberlydillon-1024x1024.png\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/09\/kimberlydillon.png\" alt=\"Kimberly Dillon\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13804\" \/><\/a><\/div><div class=\"col-5 align-self-end\"><figcaption class=\"figure-caption\"> \u201cI was denied the opportunity to cast a vote in the 2020 presidential election because the state didn\u2019t process my voter registration,\u201d said Kimberly Dillon, citizen of Rosebud Sioux Tribe. \u201cHow many other people faced this violation of our basic freedom to vote? We cannot allow voter suppression to continue in South Dakota or anywhere in Native America.\u201d Image courtesy <a href=https:\/\/www.narf.org\/sd-nvra\/>Native American Rights Fund<\/a><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThe plaintiffs allege many eligible Native voters in South Dakota never had a chance to register to vote at state agencies and many who did complete registrations at state agencies could not vote because the state agencies never sent their applications to local elections officials.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nNative people make up about nine percent of the South Dakota population.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n&#8220;I was denied the opportunity to cast a vote in the 2020 presidential election because the state didn\u2019t process my voter registration,\u201d said Dillon of Rapid City. \u201cHow many other people faced this violation of our basic freedom to vote? We cannot allow voter suppression to continue in South Dakota or anywhere in Native America.\u201d\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThe alleged voter suppression in South Dakota may mirror nationwide voter suppression efforts.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nAs of May 14, the Brennan Center for Justice had tracked the enactment of at least 22 bills with restrictive provisions in 14 states, a dramatic increase from prior years. But in South Dakota, the main problem isn\u2019t the creation of newly restrictive laws, it\u2019s the failure to abide by voter protections already on the books, according to the lawsuit.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cWe see routine violations of federal law,\u201d said Chase Iron Eyes, co-director and lead counsel for the Lakota People\u2019s Law Project. \u201cIn 2018 and 2020, we worked hard with tribal governments and members to ensure that the voices of Native people were heard at the ballot box. Unfortunately, in many cases, systemic discrimination prevented that. That\u2019s why we\u2019re joining this suit. We\u2019re battling a long history of racism and current nationwide efforts to install new Jim Crow-style laws.\u201d\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">BREAKING: The U.S. Supreme Court released a decision in Brnovich v. DNC that prioritized disproven election concerns over the very real Native and minority voters that lose their voice due to discriminatory policies: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bs5HPVvesU\">https:\/\/t.co\/bs5HPVvesU<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/votingdiscrimination?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#votingdiscrimination<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/votinglaws?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#votinglaws<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/M07jJt5SNU\">pic.twitter.com\/M07jJt5SNU<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Native American Rights Fund (@NDNrights) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NDNrights\/status\/1410637549962502155?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 1, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nSouth Dakota has a long and troubled history of disenfranchising Native American voters. In violation of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, South Dakota prevented Native people from voting until the 1940s. In 1984, the county auditor in Fall River, which includes part of the Pine Ridge Reservation, refused to accept voter registrations from Native American citizens, according to the lawsuit.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cNative voters in South Dakota have found it harder and harder to perform the simple act of registering to vote. As the number of registered voters plummets, the state has done nothing to fix this systemic problem,\u201d said Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Rodney M. Bordeaux.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nAccording to the lawsuit, between the 2004 and 2016 elections, South Dakota saw an 84 percent decrease in the number of voter registration applications from public assistance agencies, despite an 80 percent increase in people receiving benefits from those agencies. In 2004, up to 13 percent of those receiving food assistance benefits also received voter registration assistance. By 2016, that number had fallen to just over 1 percent.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nAccording to the lawsuit, state officials also have failed to make it easier for Native residents to acquire state identification cards or access polling places. For example, though about 90 percent of the population of Buffalo County lives on the Crow Creek Reservation, to register to vote, reservation residents must drive as far as 90 miles round trip to Gann Valley \u2014 populated only by about a dozen residents, all non-Native.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cThe state is aware that many of our people lack the transportation and means to travel to faraway polls, yet they do nothing,\u201d Bordeaux said. \u201cThe state\u2019s inactions to address registration and polling barriers minimize the impact our votes could have, and we cannot let them get away with it.\u201d\r\n<P><\/P><div class=\"mt-1 mb-1\"><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8411603009680747\" data-ad-slot=\"6394965691\"><\/ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/script><\/div><p><\/p>\r\nNatives living on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota have to drive an average of nearly 45 miles to obtain a state ID, compared to about 17 miles for non-Natives, according to the lawsuit.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nSouth Dakota counties have even chosen to forgo federal funding rather than service Native voters. Jackson County refused to use federal Help America Vote Act funding to create a satellite polling office in Wanblee on the Pine Ridge Reservation, until forced to do so by a federal lawsuit.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cAs Black, brown, and Native communities across the country face a racist push to undermine the basic freedom to vote, South Dakota must live up to its obligations under the National Voter Registration Act \u2014 a critical federal voting rights protection that has helped millions of Americans get on the voting rolls over the past 30 years,\u201d said Adam Lioz, senior counsel for Demos.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\">\r\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nvm1Si9flhU?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Native American Rights Fund: <a href=https:\/\/youtu.be\/nvm1Si9flhU>A Conversation on Voting Rights and Indian Country<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Dakota has a long and troubled history of disenfranchising Native voters.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13806,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1,14],"tags":[492,107,1767,267,495,1766,1765,8,55,97,711,544,98,754,177],"class_list":["post-13802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-law","category-national","category-politics","tag-chase-iron-eyes","tag-crow-creek-sioux","tag-hosila-white-mountain","tag-ira","tag-kevin-killer","tag-kimberly-dillon","tag-lakota-peoples-law-project","tag-narf","tag-native-vote","tag-oglala-sioux","tag-rodney-bordeaux","tag-rosebud-sioux","tag-south-dakota","tag-standing-rock-sioux","tag-voting-rights","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/09\/oglalalakotacounty.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-3AC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}