ELMO — Election Day is quickly approaching but voting may not be so accessible for people in smaller rural communities.
Indigenous-led efforts are taking a more personalized approach to meet voters where they’re at.
Whether it is knocking on doors offering a meal or collecting ballots, Red Medicine, LLC puts in the miles to encourage Indigenous voters to get their vote in.
Co-CEO Patrick Yawakie says this election year is important for Indigenous people in Montana as it is on the 100th anniversary of the Snyder Act, or Citizenship Act — meaning tribal people have only been considered citizens for 100 years.
“It’s relatively just a small period of time that we’ve been able to vote and learn what we're able to do,” Yawakie said. “Definitely building on the successes of those tribal members who fought for our right to vote.”
Yawakie says there is a need for equal representation in the voting system and in
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rural communities — such as tribal reservations — the ballot system was created for this purpose.
But during the last Montana legislative session, there were attempts to remove, such as House Bill 530 that would have prohibited third-party ballot collectors like Red Medicine, LLC.
“There has been lawsuits that we have won in school boards, county commissioner seats and senate and house district seats,” Yawakie said. “And building a strong foundation and those are things we need to protect.”
Protecting their voting rights can also be done with the help of Indigenous representation in house district seats, such as Shelly Fyant, who is running for Montana House District 91.
“Native[s][ absolutely have the power to swing an election one way or another, but the big challenge is getting them engaged and voter participation,” Fyant noted.
Fyant says some Indigenous people choose not to vote because they haven't been educated about how the issues affect them.
“They’re not understanding how those state [and federal laws] affect tribal nations. So that is a challenge for us in Indian Country and always has been.”
So, with the efforts of Red Medicine, LLC, voter participation has increased this last election cycle.
“Every single cycle there is a trust that is built and that we are looking out for them and we have their back,” Yawakie told MTN.
