{"id":21162,"date":"2022-02-17T15:17:01","date_gmt":"2022-02-17T20:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=21162"},"modified":"2022-02-17T15:17:02","modified_gmt":"2022-02-17T20:17:02","slug":"montana-free-press-western-native-voice-takes-up-voting-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/02\/17\/montana-free-press-western-native-voice-takes-up-voting-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Montana Free Press: Western Native Voice takes up voting rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Western<\/a>
Last year, the nonprofit Western Native Voice installed a digital voter registration kiosk in the lobby of Missoula’s All Nations Health Center as part of a statewide effort to improve tribal voter access. Photo by Alex Sakariassen \/ Montana Free Press<\/figcaption>\r\n
Fighting for tribal voter access<\/div>\r\n
Digital kiosks and legal arguments are one Native nonprofit\u2019s answer to Montana\u2019s new election laws.<\/div>\r\n
Thursday, February 17, 2022<\/div>\r\n
By Alex Sakariassen<\/div>\r\n
Montana Free Press<\/DIV>\r\n
montanafreepress.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nAs the 67th Legislature deliberated changes to Montana election law last spring, tribal access to the polls emerged as a dominant thread of debate. Voting rights advocates and representatives from the Legislature\u2019s American Indian Caucus routinely argued that voting was already tough enough for much of the state\u2019s Indigenous population, and more restrictions would result in further disenfranchisement.

<\/P>\r\n\r\nOver the past year, one of those constant voices of advocacy \u2014 the nonprofit Western Native Voice<\/a> \u2014 has adopted a multipronged approach to helping Native voters cast ballots and reversing the negative impacts the group attributes to a slate of new laws<\/a>. Western Native Voice lobbied heavily for the passage of House Bill 613<\/a>, described by supporters as the Native American Voting Rights Act<\/a>. The bill would have addressed several oft-cited voting difficulties in tribal communities by allowing tribal members to use expired tribal IDs and nontraditional addresses to register and establishing clear requirements for satellite election offices on reservations. The bill was rejected by the House on a narrow vote despite bipartisan support.

<\/P>\r\n\r\nBut Western Native Voice\u2019s work wasn\u2019t confined to the halls of the state Capitol. When the COVID-19 pandemic rendered traditional door-to-door registration drives in tribal communities too risky for the 2020 election cycle, the organization began developing an online voter registration portal as a way to continue its outreach. \r\n

<\/p>\r\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/wnativevoice\/status\/1493591186250031109\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThat effort quickly evolved with the installation in 2021 of three digital kiosks in public spaces on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation and a fourth in the lobby of Missoula\u2019s All Nations Health Center, a strategy Western Native Voice says is its answer to the Legislature\u2019s elimination of same-day voter registration.

<\/P>\r\n\r\n\u201cOur whole goal was to expand the access to the online voter registration portal to as many places as possible,\u201d Western Native Voice Deputy Director Ta\u2019jin Perez told Montana Free Press. \u201cSo we\u2019re thinking about public libraries, we\u2019re thinking about tribal buildings, tribal clinics, health centers, cultural centers, and eventually, as things progress, working with private enterprise and businesses.\u201d

<\/P>\r\n\r\nPerez added that two registration kiosks have been installed this year on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and in the lobby of the Helena Indian Alliance Center, and more will likely go up on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. Staff at each location have been trained to help users navigate the tablets and answer questions about how the process works. Perez estimated the cost of each kiosk at roughly $1,000, all of which is covered by his organization. To date, Perez said, Western Native Voice has received more than 2,000 voter registration applications through the portal since its launch in 2020.

<\/P>\r\n \"Western<\/a>

Last year, the nonprofit Western Native Voice installed a digital voter registration kiosk in the lobby of Missoula’s All Nations Health Center as part of a statewide effort to improve tribal voter access. Photo by Alex Sakariassen \/ Montana Free Press<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe kiosks are not connected directly to Montana\u2019s official voter registration database, which is managed by county election offices and by the Montana secretary of state\u2019s office. Rather, information entered into Western Native Voice\u2019s online portal is used to produce a pre-filled voter registration form for an individual user. The organization then prints the form and mails it to the registrant to date, sign and submit to their county election office with proof of a state-approved photo ID. Perez noted that the forms come with an instruction letter and a pre-addressed and stamped envelope, though registrants can choose to deliver the forms in-person. The forms produced by the portal can also be used to update a voter\u2019s registration information.

<\/P>\r\n\r\nSkye McGinty, executive director of the All Nations Health Center in Missoula, said hosting a kiosk in her facility\u2019s lobby was a logical extension of her organization\u2019s mission. In addition to offering a wide range of health care services, the center provides cultural classes, workshops, youth suicide prevention programming and, since COVID-19 hit, access to cleaning supplies, food and traditional medicines and teas.

<\/P>\r\n\r\n\u201cWe really function as a community center, and we want to be that one-stop shop for our community,\u201d McGinty said. \u201cSo any of those needs that we can address and bridge those gaps, we\u2019re here to do it.\u201d

<\/P>\r\n\r\nSince its installation last year, McGinty said, the kiosk has sparked questions and curiosity from individuals and families, particularly children. She added that it appears to be serving the added function of normalizing voter access for younger generations.

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