Tribal leaders: Discrimination, suppression of Native American voters occurring in Dakotas
A voter ID law and manipulated legislative boundaries are among the ways Native Americans' votes are diluted in the Dakotas, a U.S. House panel was told on Tuesday.
Tribal leaders and voting organization representatives described problems faced in North Dakota and South Dakota during a field hearing held by the U.S. House Elections Subcommittee, which is holding seven hearings around the country as it compiles a report for Congress on the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The subcommittee decided to visit the Dakotas because North Dakota adopted a voter identification law that disproportionately burdens Native Americans and South Dakota "has had more litigation over voting rights violations than any other state in Indian Country," said U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio.
But these issues aren't isolated to North Dakota and South Dakota — Native Americans across the country face discriminatory laws and burdens that keeps them from voting, said Jacqueline De Leon, an attorney for the Native American Rights Fund, who testified at the hearing on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.
Read more: https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/crime/2019/04/18/tobias-ritesman-global-aquaponics-pleads-guilty-federal-wire-fraud/3500191002/