Republicans could make it a lot harder for Native Americans to vote

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

58% : But the disparities in access are especially pronounced for Native voters, who, after years of state-sanctioned voter suppression overturned with the 1965 Voting Rights Act, still face barriers to voting and registering.
55% : " As written, the only currently compliant Native-specific documentation the SAVE Act would accept is an American Indian Card issued by the Department of Homeland Security with the "KIC" classification designating Kickapoo citizens, when presented with a valid government-issued ID.
53% : (CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images) Lawmakers in the House are expected to vote as early as this month on the SAVE Act, a bill that would require eligible voters to provide documents proving their citizenship in order to register to cast a ballot.
53% : So I see that [part of the Act] as posing significant barriers.
53% : But for Young, also the founder of Indigenous sovereignty and empowerment organization Protect the Sacred, the bill passing and taking effect would upend her yearslong efforts to expand voting access for and mobilize Native American voters in the Navajo Nation.
49% : During a Tuesday CAP Panel on the SAVE Act, Sydney Bryant, CAP's policy analyst for structural reform and governance, said that the Act's in-person registration requirement would strip the remote methods that millions of rural voters rely on, forcing them to drive long distances to reach their designated election office -- and that issue would disproportionately affect Indigenous voters.
49% : "We know these communities already face some of the largest barriers the ballot box, and both because of their distance and lack of documentation, would also be disproportionately impacted by the SAVE Act," Bedekovics said at the panel.
47% : But, should the SAVE Act become law, all that work stops, Young said.
45% : "With the SAVE Act and how that will discourage engagement by Native people -- we're not going to be electing leaders who will be advocates for our communities," Young told Salon in a phone interview.

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