ICYMI: Native American voters in North Dakota will be able to vote even if they don't have ID with a street address under a new legal settlement announced yesterday. publicintegrity.org/politics/votin… 1/
The settlement needs final approval, but would end years of litigation over North Dakota's voter ID requirements. It would require the state to distribute IDs on reservations and provide voters who don't have such IDs with a street address in time for their votes to count. 2/
Voter turnout on North Dakota's Native American reservations has long been among the lowest in the state. I wrote about the reasons why here: apps.publicintegrity.org/abandoned-in-a… 3/
That was true even though a federal judge, finding that North Dakota's voter ID law would have a disproportionate impact on Native American voters, had stayed the law for years. Then, shortly before the 2018 election, an appeals court lifted the stay. apps.publicintegrity.org/abandoned-in-a… 4/
The Supreme Court allowed the law to go into effect shortly before the 2018 election. The backlash fueled efforts to mobilize Native American voters in North Dakota, prompting record turnout for a midterm election. publicintegrity.org/politics/north… 5/
So what happens now? The tribes and the court still need to finalize the settlement, which would take the form of a binding consent decree. More details in my story from yesterday: publicintegrity.org/politics/votin… FIN
