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After Democrat Heidi Heitkamp won the North Dakota senate seat in 2012, Republicans went on to introduce four voter ID bills that made it almost impossible for Native Americans living on tribal lands to vote because they required street addresses, which don’t exist on reservations. There was one member of the state house that sponsored all four of those bills—Randy Boehning—from a Republican district in the Fargo area. Last week Boehning lost his re-election bid. But that’s not the end of the story because he lost to Ruth Buffalo, a citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation. All told, at the legislative level, angry Native voters flipped at least three red seats blue, including that of state House Majority Leader Al Carlson.
In addition to that bit of poetic justice, this happened:
…galvanized by anger over the state’s voter ID law and aided by the intensive efforts of tribal leaders and advocacy groups, [Native Americans] turned out for last week’s election in numbers unprecedented even for a presidential election, much less a midterm.
In Sioux County, where the Standing Rock Indian Reservation is, turnout was up 105 percent from the last midterm elections in 2014 and 17 percent from the 2016 presidential election, according to data from the North Dakota secretary of state’s office. In Rolette County, home to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, it was up 62 percent from 2014 and 33 percent from 2016. In Benson County, home to the Spirit Lake Nation, it was up 52 percent from 2014 and 10 percent from 2016.
In other words, attempts by Republicans in North Dakota to suppress the Native American vote backfired rather spectacularly.
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2018/11/14/poetic-justice-for-native-americans-in-north-dakota/
Oops. Wrong people to oppress, um?
In addition to that bit of poetic justice, this happened:
…galvanized by anger over the state’s voter ID law and aided by the intensive efforts of tribal leaders and advocacy groups, [Native Americans] turned out for last week’s election in numbers unprecedented even for a presidential election, much less a midterm.
In Sioux County, where the Standing Rock Indian Reservation is, turnout was up 105 percent from the last midterm elections in 2014 and 17 percent from the 2016 presidential election, according to data from the North Dakota secretary of state’s office. In Rolette County, home to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, it was up 62 percent from 2014 and 33 percent from 2016. In Benson County, home to the Spirit Lake Nation, it was up 52 percent from 2014 and 10 percent from 2016.
In other words, attempts by Republicans in North Dakota to suppress the Native American vote backfired rather spectacularly.
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2018/11/14/poetic-justice-for-native-americans-in-north-dakota/
Oops. Wrong people to oppress, um?
