Fundraising for Aboriginal people in North Dakota to vote

Last week, the US Supreme Court refused to hear a case about the North Dakota Voter Identity Act, which experts say could make it extremely difficult for the Amerindian population of that state. to vote in mid-session. A crowdfunding campaign to give these voters the power they need has exceeded its original goal after only one hour on Wednesday. The online effort, led by Daily Kos and spread via Twitter, originally had to collect $ 100,000, but the goal has since been reset to $ 400,000. On Friday morning, nearly 20,000 people donated nearly $ 450,000.

This money will go to North Dakota Aboriginal Vote, a Western Native Voice-affiliated voter advocacy group in Montana is currently trying to remedy the situation. The current law provides for the obligation for all residents of the state to present, at the polls, the documentation of their residence address. This excludes mailbox addresses, used by many Native Americans because they live on bookings and the post office does not deliver to their addresses further afield. If your identifier includes a PO Box, it will not be valid. But a tribal identity is valid.

Thus, North Dakota Native Vote is trying to remedy the situation by providing updated tribal identity cards or address checks to members of the affected tribes, according to the statement. Daily Kos campaign post. On Thursday morning, the group set up a six-person team to coordinate efforts it hoped to expand in the coming days, as it was only a few weeks after the mid-term elections.

"In my opinion, there was a real thirst for channeling the frustration of the blatant suppression of voting by depositing money," said Prairie Rose Seminole, coordinator of the group's volunteers, in Quick business. "People understand that there is urgency here. Urgency in time and resources needed to do this job in less than 20 days. "

Overall, Seminole says that at least 75,000 potential voters could be affected. As the Nation reports, Amerindians represent just under 6% of the state's population, but traditionally vote for Democratic candidates. Some of the state races are likely to be extremely meager: in 2012, Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) won his seat by a few thousand votes – and is in another tight race to keep it.

Seminole, if they manage to act quickly enough, hopes that people who might not have known about the situation could be even more encouraged to vote. Many of those affected are in rural areas. The North Dakota Native Vote has therefore combined the resolution of paperwork issues with an advance poll campaign. He will coordinate drivers to help people who need transportation to go to the polls. "There will be more obstacles," Seminole says. "These efforts right now are only a quick response, but the real problem of suppressing voters and silencing our voices is a threat. We must do the work to make sure we build a long-term commitment and build something so that we are heard. "