The influence of Native American voters

November 08, 2012

Organizers of a national get-out-the-vote campaign that targeted Native American communities for Election Day are considering their efforts a success.

From Phoenix, KJZZ’s Steve Goldstein has more.

The National Congress of American Indians led the push to get more Native Americans voting. The group is pointing to U.S. Senate races in Montana and North Dakota, as well as a voter identification ballot initiative in Minnesota, where it says the Native American turnout made a difference. The Minnesota voter ID requirement failed.

NCAI Executive Director Jackie Johnson Pata says the best indicator was the fact that President Barack Obama mentioned Native Americans during his victory speech Tuesday night. NCAI officials say Native Americans in New Mexico and Montana were registered to vote at higher rates than any other racial or ethnic group in those states heading into Election Day.