States Can Remove Voting Barriers For Native American Communities Ahead Of Midterms

States Can Remove Voting Barriers For Native American Communities Ahead Of Midterms

Native American communities, the original inhabitants of this land, continue to face longstanding structural barriers that limit access to housing, healthcare, education — and the basic right to vote. For generations, political choices and administrative practices have excluded tribal communities from resources and civic participation.

Although Native Americans were granted U.S. citizenship in 1924, states retained control over voting rules, producing a patchwork of policies that often disenfranchised Indigenous voters. More than a century later, voters in states such as Arizona and Nevada — where Native populations form meaningful voting blocs — still confront disproportionate hurdles when casting ballots.

Practical Obstacles That Persist

Common barriers include long, costly trips from remote homes to polling places; refusal by some officials to accept tribal identification as valid voter ID; and unreliable mail service in isolated areas. A Brennan Center report notes that many Native communities lack conventional street addresses, which complicates voter registration, mail-in voting and ballot delivery. Residents often rely on P.O. boxes located miles from their homes, forcing extra travel and creating logistical hurdles for election officials and advocates.

"P.O. boxes are a practical necessity for many—but they introduce delays, sorting mistakes and clerical errors that can create nonexistent or mismatched addresses, translating into real disenfranchisement."

These administrative failures have measurable consequences. In 2020, Navajo Nation voters in Apache County, Arizona, experienced the highest ballot-rejection rate of any demographic group, driven in part by paperwork and processing errors.

Scale Of The Challenge

Across the 574 federally recognized tribes, about 4.7 million of the nearly 6.8 million American Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States are eligible to vote, yet more than 1 million remain unregistered — a stark indicator of persistent barriers and the legacy of exclusion facing tribal communities.

Practical Fixes Underway

Election officials and advocates are already advancing practical solutions. In Arizona, advocates are urging counties that serve rural Native communities to expand vote centers so people can cast ballots at convenient locations regardless of assigned precinct. They have also asked the secretary of state for clearer guidance on accepting tribal IDs and improving outreach to tribal voters.

In Nevada, tribal nations are partnering with community groups to place more ballot boxes on tribal lands — a step many viewed as essential after the COVID-19 pandemic revealed inequities such as poor communication from state authorities and limited access to vote centers. Notably, Nevada stood out in 2022 as the only state highlighted in some reports where Native voter participation on tribal lands exceeded participation off those lands.

Progress Is Fragile

However, gains are fragile. In North Dakota, state legislators recently rolled back protections designed to ensure fair Native representation, despite safeguards grounded in the Voting Rights Act. That change was legally challenged and now awaits a U.S. Supreme Court decision on whether the case will be heard.

As the nation looks toward the 2026 midterms, a potential stress test for democratic institutions, it is vital to confront the remaining obstacles that block Native voters. Legislative efforts to limit ballot access — including recent proposals such as the SAVE Act and aggressive redistricting in some states — pose additional risks that demand robust, nonpartisan responses to safeguard voting rights.

Looking Ahead

History shows that Native voting power has often been met with policies designed to blunt tribal political influence. Yet advocates, community leaders and election officials are working to ensure that the past does not dictate the future. Practical, targeted reforms — clearer ID policies, expanded vote centers, reliable ballot drop-off points and stronger outreach — can make voting accessible to Indigenous communities.

Natalia Sells of Arizona and Jennifer Willett of Nevada are senior campaign managers for All Voting Is Local, a nonpartisan organization that works to ensure free and fair elections at the state and local level.

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