Control of the Senate runs though South Dakota reservations, and you’re helping GOTV

President Calvin Coolidge poses with unidentified tribal leaders after signing the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. It was supposed to ensure all Indians had the right to vote, but it took several court cases over the next 46 years to make it stick. Efforts to suppress the Indian vote have continued up to the present day.

Five minutes before I posted this, 6,062 of you had contributed $71,730 for South Dakota NDN Election Efforts. And the thanks you get? We’ve raised the goal from $75,000 to $100,000. The money will help pay for the  enthusiastic voter registration campaign being run by the Great Plains Get Out the Native Vote on the state’s nine American Indian reservations. South Dakota’s registration deadline is Monday, Oct. 20. Voters can cast ballots the same day they register, which will make the get-out-the-vote effort that will continue right through Election Day just a little bit easier.

In addition, $68,713 has been raised for Rick Weiland, the progressive Democrat running for the U.S. Senate in a three-way contest that includes right-wing independent and former Republican Larry Pressler and an even more right-wing Republican, Mike Rounds. This race looked nearly hopeless a few months ago. Now it is a race. But winning means getting a good turnout. The final margin could very easily hang on a few hundred votes. And those votes could very well come from the reservations where Democrats significantly outnumber Republicans. In 2002, Democrat Tim Johnson won a squeaker (with a margin of 527 votes) in his Senate race against Republican John Thune. He couldn’t have done it without the Indian vote.

Getting more Indians to the polls this year is why South Dakota State Rep. Kevin Killer, an Oglala-Kiowa who lives on the Pine Ridge Reservation, is working so hard on the project. And it’s why Daily Kos is urging everyone to chip in $3 for the project and another $3 for Rick Weiland.

On the second day of the Great Plains get-out-the-vote campaign, Killer reported that more than 100 people voted early at Pine Ridge and they had run out of ballots.

State Rep. Kevin Killer

He said this is impressive given that it’s an off-year election. Another key activist in the project is Dustina Gill, a Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate who lives on the Lake Traverse Reservation. She told Daily Kos via text:

Trish Quilt, Lower Brule GOTV coordinator.

The three tribes we’ve been to are so relieved to know there are resources to help them GOTV. Their auditor offices are so far away from their reservation! I can see why their vote turnout is so low.

Because of such […] long distance and limited resources and even jobs, voting seems to be a luxury they cannot all afford to do. Fifty dollars in gas or $50 toward a light bill or propane.

Having on the ground people to do this for their reservations and districts is so inspiring to them.

Little community things are nice to see. The [Fort] Thompson hotel seems to be the gathering hub in the morning. Good place to get info out. The chairwoman begins each day by smudging [ritual burning of sage and herbs]. She said it keeps the balance and reminds us why we do what we do. So much heart and concern for her people and their future. She knows how important the vote is and had no resources to give for it.

Three bucks to have a progressive senator from South Dakota? Another three bucks for those fighting hard to bring out the Native American vote?

You can find more commentary and photographs below the fold.