Native American voter turnout has room for improvement, but some states like Montana have seen an increase in Native participation in politics, according to a University of North Dakota journalism professor.
Mark Trahant began the latest Must See Monday presentation with statistics regarding Native American populations and their representation in elected office.
He cited a figure from the United State Census Bureau, estimating that Native Americans make up 1.7 percent of America’s total population. There are currently two Native Americans in Congress, which he said is not enough to adequately represent Native populations at a national level.
“In the election system we have, what political scientists call ‘first pass the post’ it’s probably going to be difficult to get there,” Trahant said. “When you spread that number across districts nationwide it becomes very difficult to actually win elections.”
While he indicated that there is still work to be done to increase Native participation, Trahant mainly focused on the success Native Americans have achieved so far.
“So often the stories about Indian country chronicle the challenges,” Trahant said. “So for me tonight it’s really wonderful to talk about some of the success stories out there.”
Two of these success stories are the Native Americans currently running for national and state office.
“…This helps the conversation,” Trahant said. “Whether or not they win or lose, they’re getting people to talk about things in a very different way.”
Trahant said Native Americans in Montana have a large voter turnout and there is an ongoing push to appoint Native Americans to a variety of state jobs, boards and commissions.
He credited Montana’s success to strong candidates and the state’s enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. He discussed Montana’s satellite voting stations and said it can help increase Native American turnout because on larger reservations it can take hours to get to the polls.
Journalism student Taylor Notah grew up on the Navajo reservation and was encouraged by this success, specifically after hearing of the large Native American voter turnout in Montana.
“I think that kind of shows the power that Native votes can have if we all turned out for an election year,” Notah said. “It could be a good thing, but I think right now in Native country that’s a low number. I know a lot of people are trying to fix it.”
Trahant expects Native American’s political impact to continue to grow in the future.
“All these trends that I’m talking about are just the beginning,” Tarahant said. “This is something that’s going to be happening more across the country as we see younger people turn voting age.”
Kevin Dale, executive editor of Cronkite News, introduced the discussion and said this Must See Monday reflected Cronkite News’ goal to include more reporting on Native Americans.
“One of the things Cronkite News is trying to do a better job of is covering issues important to Native Americans from Arizona,” Dale said. “Our students show interest in that and every time we cover a story, our readers and our viewers show interest in that as well. I think it speaks to the need for people who are interested in that sort of coverage.”
Contact the reporter at stephanie.morse@asu.edu
