September 23, 2014 –
Verna Simon visiting the Get Out the Native Vote display table that was manned by Marzha Fritzler at the Goverment Center yesterday.
(MAYETTA): Native Americans are one of the most unregistered group of voters in the United States and the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) would like to see that changed. Since NCAI began in 1944 they have urged Native Americans to vote and have mounted a Nativevote.org campaign to make people aware of how important their vote is.
At the local level, the PBPN are launching their own campaign by having a display table at various places where people can learn about the voting process all week. Today the table will be at the Taco sale in the casino convention center and on Wednesday it will travel to the Elder Center from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and to the Health Center from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. On Thursday it will be available at the Health Center from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and at the Boys & Girls Club from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. On Friday it will be at the We-Ta-Se pow-wow being held in Prairie Peoples Park. Individuals who are old enough to vote are encouraged to stop by to learn about registering and for those who have already done so they can enter into a drawing for door prizes that will be announced at a potluck on October 13 (location to be announced).
Voters must register by Oct. 14 to vote in the Nov. 4 election. People must register in the county seat where they live. They should go to the Elections office or contact the Elections Clerk within their county.
Here are some helpful websites on voting and Kansans can download a registration form from the Kansas Secretary of State’s office at www.kssos.org
Other counties near or on the common land:
Jackson County, KS
Pottawatomie County, KS
www.pottcounty.org/clerk/2010/Election.html
Shawnee County, KS
For general information:
National Congress of American Indians
It should also be noted that the voting landscape in the last five years has changed with the advent of over 20 states whose legislations have put into place new restriction laws on voters that make it harder to vote. One of those states is Kansas that is now requiring voters to prove who they are at the polls by having to show photo identification. Kansas tribal members who have tribal identification cards with photos on them can use those tribal IDs at the polls.