Native voters are critical in the defense of tribal sovereignty and the well-being of our communities. We have shown our power to determine election outcomes, and when we do elected leaders ignore our interests at their peril.

It’s no wonder that, instead of fixing the barriers that make voting hard for our communities, elected officials often enact laws and implement policies that make it even harder.

That’s why our work to make sure that tribal citizens and all who live in our communities have access to the polls is so vital.

Our efforts have yielded major wins for the representation of Native people in government, including the election of the first Native women to Congress in 2018, the election of the first Alaska Native to Congress in 2022, the appointment of the first Native woman to head the Department of the Interior, and the appointment of the first Native person to lead the National Park Service.

The Native American Voting Rights Act (NAVRA) will address many of the structural barriers that stand in our way, but we can’t do it alone. We believe we have the full support of Democrats in the U.S. Senate, but with 60 votes required to clear the threshold set by the filibuster to get any bill to the floor for a vote, we must get several Senate Republicans on our side too.

Senator Lisa Murkowski is critical to getting the support we need to pass NAVRA.

Urge Senator Murowski to co-sponsor the Native American Voting Rights Act by adding your name now.