Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a meeting with Native American community leaders about voting rights with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (left) in July 2021.
Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
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Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a meeting with Native American community leaders about voting rights with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (left) in July 2021.
Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
With the effort to expand voting rights for Native American communities, the Biden administration released a report on Thursday stating barriers Indigenous voters face the election process, including additional steps and recommendations the administration will take to combat limitations on voting rights.
The report is the result of a The Interagency Steering Group on Native American Voting Rights which President Biden announced in March 2021, as part of the executive order he signed to expand access to the ballot.
“For too long, members of Tribal States and Indigenous Communities have faced unnecessary burdens as they attempt to exercise their sacred right to vote. Indigenous voters often have to overcoming language barriers, lack of accessibility to voters with disabilities, cultural disrespect and frankly hostility, geographically remote populations and persistent poverty – conditions only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” The White House said on Thursday.
At the top of the list of recommendations the administration has made is for Congress Passes John Lewis Voting Rights Promotion Actconsists of Native American Voting Rights Act and the Freedom of Voting Act.
The report notes that states could also pass legislation on their own that incorporates protections from the Native American Voting Rights Act, without having to wait for Congress to act.
Additional recommendations include asking the U.S. Postal Service to consider adding routes and offices in areas serving Indigenous communities and adding language assistance.
The White House said the report was “just the beginning” and that multiple agencies within the government would work to implement the report’s recommendations.
