Indigenous Women's Reproductive Watch

A monthly newsletter to keep you informed.

Produced by Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center
September 18, 2020

Overcoming Voting Obstacles

By Mila Argueta
Visit our
website Are you ready for the upcoming elections, and are you aware of
the obstacles you may face?

National Voting Obstacles

Recent suspicious federal activity has been testing the

constitutionality of the upcoming presidential elections and
threatening Native voters that use absentee ballots.

Over the summer, questionable changes enacted by the Post

Master General, Louis DeJoy, sparked public upheaval because
of allegations that those changes could lead to voter fraud.

According to DeJoy, his recent changes were put in place to

modernize[1]. However, DeJoy's cuts on machines and overtime
while ironically increasing costs,[2] have also dangerously
affected the speed at which mail containing medicine and
important documents, like mail-in ballots, has been
delivered.[3]
 Dejoy's cuts implied more than just updating the budget. A post
office employee contends that DeJoy made these changes in a
way that would undermine public oversight or ensuring that his
About the Native changes were made without necessitating their approval.1
American Women's
Health Education Additionally, government oversight agencies were concerned to
Resource Center
find that his appointment as PMG might have been affected by
his contributions to President Trump's campaign.[4] Employees
also came forward stating that they had been coerced into other
campaign funding and compensated through excessive
bonuses.[5]

These findings confirm fears that absentee ballots, and

democracy itself, could face obstacles in this coming election.
And while the board of governors appointed by Trump has since
given 25 billion to the Post Office, and Dejoy has promised to
postpone some cutbacks, voters need to know their state's
Since 1985 the Native deadlines, and anticipate delays.2
American Women's Health
Education Resource Center has
worked to protect the reproductive Furthermore, Native voters should be aware of other efforts
health and rights of Indigenous
women both within our that are aimed at Natives in particular.
communities and
internationally. Much of the work
we have done has had a positive Obstacles Facing Native Voters
impact by improving policies
within the Indian Health Service
and by bringing our issues into the Native Americans are almost twice as likely to live in rural
policy arena so our sisters and
allies can work with us to impact
areas.[6] This fact makes many native communities more
positive change. vulnerable to disenfranchisement.
In order to build a stronger
coalition of Indigenous women
working on reproductive health For example, in the past, rural communities and districts have
and rights, The Native American
Women's Health Education been "diluted." District boundaries have been drawn in such a
Resource Center is sponsoring way that Native votes are either spread out so that they have
little to no effect or they have been concentrated so that they
Indigenous Women's are underrepresented amidst various other districts that have
Reproductive Watch little to no Native voters. 6
(IWRW)
These efforts to disenfranchise the Native voter began with
The "Watch" is a biweekly e-mail
service that provides updated colonization, and remain in places like Montana up until May of
information on current
reproductive health and rights
this year (2020).[7]
issues facing Indigenous women.
We feel this information is
important for all communities
In Montana, like in many other native communities, many do
because many health issues facing not have transportation to reach election offices. To address this
Indigenous women in particular
affect the health rights of people
concern, a system was set up to gather ballots and transport
of color and women in general. them altogether.7 However, counter efforts, promoted by the
We hope that this information and
listserv will assist advocates and
Montana Ballot Interference Act, were employed to restrain
these public transportation methods. Native American-led
activists to better serve their
communities.
Thank
You!
Pidamiyay
e!
Your continued interest in
the Indigenous Women's
Reproductive Watch
Newsletter is greatly
appreciated. The IWRW is
a bi-weekly newsletter is
disbursed on the 2nd and
4th Wednesday of each
month.
organizations and the ACLU of Montana fought this and
succeeded in maintaining mass transport of ballots.7
Other attempts to enable ease in voting practices for Natives
have not proven as successful. Because rural Native citizens do
not have addresses and many voting districts do not accept
tribal registration, they go through unequal efforts and
paperwork.8
However, even with these obstacles, many tribes have said that
they have overcome subtle injustices by unifying with other
tribal leaderships and initiating helpful methods to counteract
oppressive measures.[8]
Leadership efforts have proven to be beneficial, but individual
awareness is also essential to make sure that Native voices are
not stifled.
How to Prepare to Vote
To begin, how do you register?Every state is different.
Depending on the state, you may have the option to register in-
person, online, and/or by mail. If you do not have access to
online resources, like vote.gov and vote.org, call into to your
local governing offices and they should redirect you to the right
official.
Ask the important questions. Is your registration still valid,
what documents do you need to register, where is the election
office to vote in person, or where can you request an absentee
vote and where do you mail it to?
Also, be sure to ask about deadlines. Some state deadlines for
absentee requests and mail-in voting are just weeks away. Make
sure you have enough time to register, request an absentee
ballot, and mail that ballot with the a postmark before the
deadline's expiration.
Voter registration should not expire, but if you move, change
names, haven't voted in four years, or desire to change parties,
then you should go through the process described above.
Amidst so many obstacles, let your choices and preparations
show that Native American voices should and will be heard.
 1 https://www.npr.org/2020/08/11/901219097/how-are-
postmaster-general-dejoys-changes-affecting-workers
2 https://oversight.house.gov/news/press-releases/oversight-
committee-to-hold-hearing-with-postmaster-general-dejoy-on-
sweeping
3
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/16/us/elections/demonst
rators-plan-a-second-protest-at-the-postmaster-generals-
home.html?searchResultPosition=6
4 https://oversight.house.gov/news/press-releases/experts-
agree-dejoy-s-conflicts-of-interest-should-have-disqualified-
him-from
5 https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/louis-
dejoy-campaign-contributions/2020/09/06/1187bc2c-e3fe-
11ea-8181-606e603bb1c4_story.html
6 https://harvardlawreview.org/2016/04/securing-indian-
voting-rights/
7 https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/court-temporarily-
blocks-montana-law-restricts-native-american-voting-rights
8 https://www.npr.org/2018/10/13/657125819/many-
native-ids-wont-be-accepted-at-north-dakota-polling-places

The Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center, P.O. Box 572,
809 High Street, Lake Andes, SD 57356

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