100 years ago, US citizenship for Native Americans came without voting rights in swing states

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Voter participation advocate Theresa Pasqual traverses the tribal community of Acoma Pueblo with a stack of sample ballots in her car and applications for absentee ballots, handing them out at every opportunity ahead of New Mexico’s June 4 primary.

Residents of the pueblo’s original mesa-top “sky city” that endured after the Spanish invasion in the late 1500s know firsthand the challenges that Native American voters have faced across Indian Country, where polling places are often hours away and restrictive voter laws and ID requirements only add to the barriers.

It’s been a century now since an act of Congress granted citizenship to Native Americans, but advocates say that birthright bestowed in 1924 still hasn’t translated into equal access to the ballot. Inequities are especially pronounced in remote regions across the U.S., and some key Southwestern states with large Native American populations.

New Mexico is trying something new — a test run of sorts for many new and contested provisions that are part of the state’s Native American Voting Rights Act that was passed last year. The measure promises tribal communities a greater voice in how and where they can vote, even opening the possibility that tribal offices can be designated as a street address for remote households that have none.

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