Native Leaders and Elders gather to celebrate Indigenous People’s Day and the opening of satellite election offices on Montana reservations

The period for early voting in Montana brings new opportunities for the Native vote

Billings, MT – Native plaintiffs in landmark voting rights case honored at the start of early voting. October 8 marks the celebration of Indigenous People’s Day (also known as Columbus Day) and the start of early voting and late voter registration in Montana. It is also close to the anniversary of a landmark case that allows for satellite election offices on Montana reservations. On October 10, 2012 a group of Native elders from the Crow, Fort Belknap and Northern Cheyenne reservations—many of whom served in the armed forces—sued the Montana Secretary of State, Big Horn, Blaine and Rosebud counties for violating the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment. The plaintiffs in Wandering Medicine v. McCulloch demonstrated factors such as a history of voting-related discrimination; the effects of discrimination against American Indians in education, employment and health; and travel distance combined to deny American Indians equal opportunity to vote during the period for early voting.

After a long legal battle with state and county governments, during which the case was sent back to District Court by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the parties in Wandering Medicine v. McCulloch reached a settlement in June, 2014. Asked why he persevered in the lawsuit, Mark Wandering Medicine responded: “Equality. Our constitutional rights. There is a vacuum—lack of voting access—that prevents us from participating politically and improving our situation. Isn’t that what all Americans want?” The settlement created conditions for the Crow, Fort Belknap and Northern Cheyenne tribal governments to ask for satellite election offices on their reservations. Later, Secretary of State Linda McCulloch set out conditions for any Montana tribal government to make such a request. In 2018 satellite election offices will operate on the Blackfeet, Crow, Fort Belknap, Fort Peck, Northern Cheyenne and Rocky Boys reservations. However, only Glacier County is offering full equality of access, with the satellite office on the Blackfeet reservation operating for equivalent hours to the county election office.

As early voting opens, Indian People’s Action would like to honor the plaintiffs who fought to improve access for the Native vote and those who have passed since the settlement. In comparing his experience to the Northern Cheyenne fight from captivity in Nebraska in the winter of 1878-1879, Mark Wandering Medicine commented: “Back then, thanks to the wishes of a greater force, our ancestors succeeded against great odds to preserve our way of life. Securing our voting rights will also be good for us.”

WHO: Indian People’s Action

WHAT: Event celebrating Indigenous People’s Day and honoring the plaintiffs in Wandering Medicine v McCulloch

WHERE: Big Horn Resort, Billings at 5:00 p.m. Monday, October 8