Use your vote and your power to fight discriminatory policies and support tribal sovereignty! Below are tools to help you organize, advocate, and get out the vote.
Scroll down to find tools to help you register to vote. Wondering if Tribal IDs are accepted in your state? Check out this Tribal ID information from our friends at VoteRiders.
Fact Sheets and Flyers for Native Voting Advocates
- Know Your Rights – Use 866-OUR-VOTE
- Addressing: A Guide for Tribes
- Examples of Voter Discrimination and Suppression in Indian Country
- Voter Suppression of Native Americans in Arizona
- Native Americans Depend on Ballot Collection
- Everyone Should Feel Safe While Voting
- You can wear a “Native Vote” shirt when you vote
Tribal Leaders’ Guides
- 5 Steps to Tribal Government Coordination | Tribal Election Safety Guide
- A Tribal Leaders Guide to Prepare for the Next Election
- A Flyer About Indian Health Services as Voter Registration Facilities
- An Explainer of Indian Health Services as Voter Registration Facilities
- A Form Letter to Request IHS Voter Registration Facilities
- Addressing: A Guide for Tribes
- Nevada Tribal Leaders’ Guide: Requesting Voter Services for Your Reservation or Colony
- New Mexico Tribal Leaders’ Guide: How to Request an Alternate Voting Location on Your Tribal Lands
- Wisconsin Tribal Leaders’ Guide: How to Request an Alternate Voting Location on Your Tribal Lands
If your Native American community needs assistance or information concerning voter registration, polling place locations, absentee voting or vote-by-mail, please contact us at vote@narf.org.
Voter Registration at Indian Health Services
What if Native people could register to vote at any federally or tribal-run Indian Health Service facility, instead of driving (in some cases over an hour) to the nearest designated registration site? The lack of convenient designated sites and high cost of transportation create barriers for Native people to vote. Check out this webinar to learn how to pursue National Voting Rights Act designations in your Tribal Nation.
Tribal Nations and health facilities have successfully begun pursuing this option. In September 2023, the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians designated their tribally run health facility as a voter registration location. In October 2023, Native Health, an urban Indian Health Services facility near Phoenix, was officially designated a voter registration agency.
- A Flyer About Indian Health Services as Voter Registration Facilities
- An Explainer of Indian Health Services as Voter Registration Facilities
- A Form Letter to Request IHS Voter Registration Facilities
Native Language Voting Resources (Section 203 Language Assistance)
- Native Language Speakers Have Voting Rights!
- Alaska Native Language Speakers Have Voting Rights!
- Arizona Native Language Speakers Have Voting Rights!
- Choctaw Language Speakers Have Voting Rights!
- Ho-Chunk Language Speakers Have Voting Rights!
- Nez Perce Language Speakers Have Voting Rights!
- Shosone Language Speakers Have Voting Rights in Nye County!
Tools to Help You Get Registered to Vote
On Election Day 2024, 170 law student and attorney volunteers, trained by the Native American Rights Fund, arrived at polling sites on or near reservations and pueblos across six states to provide election protection support for Native voters. Learn more at https://narf.org/election-resources/.
Additional Actions for Tribal Communities:
- Issue tribal voter guides with information on how the council will vote. Put the guide on Tribe’s website, newsletter, polling places. One way to do this is to include a sample ballot with the name “Tribal Council” filled in.
- Make voter registration forms available at all points-of-contact with the tribal government.
- Contact your Secretary of State and identify polling locations on or near your reservations. Let your community know where those polling locations are.
- If you have the resources, engage in an advertising campaign encouraging people to vote.
- Make sure that individuals have the information and resources to get the voter identification that they need.
- Hold an election day party near polling locations. Be sure to invite voters and non-voters because it is illegal to pay people to vote!
- If you have the resources, provide rides/shuttles to the polls.
- Issue resolutions encouraging tribal citizens to vote.
- Encourage young people to encourage older people to vote. Youth-led movements are very effective. Encourage high school students to talk to their families about the importance of voting.
- Reach out to county and state officials to begin a conversation about polling locations.
- Request polling locations and drop-boxes in your community. Advertise where any new polling locations will be.
If you are in a vote-by-mail state:
- Request a pick-up and drop-off location on your reservation.
- Because many individuals on reservations lack their own mailing address, request that a tribal building can be used as a general pick-up /drop-off location.
Additional Actions for Individuals:
- Register to vote. Or confirm that you still are registered. Visit your Secretary of State website for more information on how to vote or use a service such as RockTheVote.org to help you get registered.
- Confirm that you are registered with your current address and find out where your polling place will be. Visit your Secretary of State website for more information on where you should vote.
- Contact your tribal council and request that they create tribal voter guides.
- Take care of yourself first, then take care of those around you. Make sure you are registered and your registration matches your current address.
- Hold an election day party near polling locations. Be sure to invite voters and non-voters because it is illegal to pay people to vote!
- If you have the resources, provide rides/shuttles to the polls.
- If you encounter problems during voting, report them. Contact the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law non-partisan toll-free hotline (866-OUR-VOTE), which is available now through election day. Report the problems to the Native American Voting Rights Coalitions at vote@narf.org.
- Check out the resources available from Native Vote.