BISMARCK, N.D. -- North Dakota voters will not go to the polls for the June 9 primary and will instead cast their ballots by mail because of the coronavirus pandemic.
That leaves the state and Native American groups scrambling to ensure that tribal members can make their vote count.
Nicole Donaghy, executive director of North Dakota Native Vote, is working to help those who live on reservations with any access issues.
She says a big concern is the limited number of drop boxes for people to put their ballots in to be mailed out.
"For most counties that do have a reservation within their borders, they are only holding or opening one ballot drop box," she points out. "And so that could be problematic for people."
Donaghy says in some cases, someone might have to drive 30 miles to the nearest drop box. And she says depending on the size of the ballot, the postage might be too expensive for tribal members with very little money.
The new concerns about access come after the state and certain tribes reached a settlement earlier this year over enforcement of a voter ID law.
But the head of the state Indian Affairs Commission says the state is making a lot of progress in helping with access issues.
Scott Davis, executive director of the North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission, says the commission has had constant communication with tribal leaders and the county governments about ensuring voting access for those who live on reservations. He says that includes work the commission was doing even before the recent settlement on the voter ID law.
"We worked very well with tribal leaders and their administrations on areas that need mapping," he states.
Those mapping efforts are designed to help Native Americans show where they live -- something that wasn't easy for many to do when trying to become eligible to vote under the law.
Davis says the commission is also working with the Transportation Department on providing ID machines to each reservation ahead of the June primary.
Donaghy says she hopes any access issues don't result in a major drop in turnout after her group saw higher participation among Native American voters in the 2018 midterm election.
"I'm just concerned that voter turnout will be limited because of the pandemic, because of access to resources to obtain a ballot," she states.
Her group has a section of its website dedicated to helping tribal members obtain key information about voting by mail this spring.
Support for this reporting was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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Alabama has long been at the forefront of voting rights issues in the United States and despite some progress, advocates said residents continue to face barriers at the ballot box.
In a recent discussion held in Montgomery, the Center for American Progress brought together voting rights experts to shed light on the ongoing struggle against voter suppression in the state.
Kathy Jones, president of the League of Women Voters-Alabama, was on the panel and highlighted ongoing efforts hindering equitable access.
"Just this past year, we've had Wes Allen, and his office has eliminated the phone app for voter registration and being able to check your polling places," Jones pointed out. "Which is a real hardship for people who rely on their phones to be able to do the business that they need to do if they need to register to vote."
The latest way Jones noted ballot access is being blocked is the recent passage of a law criminalizing assistance with absentee ballot applications. Supporters said they believe the measure will prevent ballot harvesting.
She added other ways of restricting access to the ballot box include regulating early voting, voting by mail, voter registration and voter-list maintenance. Other laws bar thousands of persons who have served felony convictions from regaining the right to vote.
JaTaune Bosby Gilchrist, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama, said in response to the challenges, federal laws being proposed would bolster voting rights across the country. One of them is the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
"The John Lewis Voting Rights Act would essentially allow us a level of equitability across the board from, as well as the Freedom to Vote Act, making voting a holiday, ensuring early voting," Bosby Gilchrist emphasized. "Alabama is one of three states without early voting, including Mississippi and New Hampshire."
The Freedom to Vote Act would help expand voter registration, limit removing voter from voter rolls and even outlines criteria to prevent gerrymandering. Advocates also see engaging young voters and increasing overall voter turnout as ways to combat measures hindering access.
Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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Pennsylvania is among the states where massive protests and tent encampments opposing the war in Gaza are growing.
Elez Beresin-Scher, a sociology student at Bryn Mawr College, is at the Free Gaza encampment on campus. She explained there are about 44 tents full of students who have been sleeping there since Saturday night.
She spoke to Sonali Kolhatkar on the TV and radio show Yes! Presents: Rising Up with Sonali.
"We are here because our college has $5 million of its endowment invested in Israeli technology," Beresin-Scher pointed out. "We know that this money is complicit in the genocide of Palestinians; over 30,000 Palestinians have been murdered by the State of Israel."
Beresin-Scher added they are calling on the college and the university president's office to divest Israeli holdings and endorse a cease-fire resolution passed by 89% of the student body about a month ago. She added they will be at the encampment indefinitely until their two demands are met.
Pro-Israel groups argued the war is justified given the massacre perpetrated by Hamas, which kicked off the most recent violence. Beresin-Scher noted they are taking a significant risk but they believe genocide is occurring in Palestine and they want to see it end.
"We're recognizing that Palestinian students have been murdered, or are not able to continue their education because every university in Gaza has been bombed, has been destroyed," Beresin-Scher emphasized. "That's the perspective that we're coming from."
Beresin-Scher has been a member of Jewish Voice for Peace since her freshman year, and said it is upsetting to hear the encampments are being portrayed as anti-Semitic. She noted it is something she has never encountered as someone who has organized with Students for Justice in Palestine.
This story was produced based on original reporting by Sonali Kolhatkar for Yes! Media.
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Massive protests and tent encampments opposing the war in Gaza are growing at universities across California, with classes canceled at the University of California-Los Angeles Wednesday, after tensions boiled over into violence there.
Police arrested 25 students at California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt Tuesday.
An organizer named Rithik from the Students for Gaza encampment at San Francisco State University recently spoke to Sonali Kolhatkar for her TV and radio show Yes! Presents: Rising Up with Sonali.
"Students everywhere are appalled at the current genocide occurring in Gaza that is being perpetrated by Israel and backed by the United States," Rithik stated. "We understand that our taxpayer money is not going towards our own education, but rather to fund this genocide and wars of aggression across the world."
At San Francisco State, students are demanding the California State University System divest any holdings in companies selling arms to Israel, assurances the student protesters will not be sanctioned by the school, and for the university president to make a statement opposing Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and declaring the war a genocide.
Pro-Israel groups argued the war is justified given the massacre perpetrated by Hamas, which kicked off the most recent violence. They also worry Jewish students will feel intimidated on campus. However, a Jewish student named Jacob at San Francisco State said it has not been his experience.
"I don't think we've ever felt that any of the actions being taken in the name of anti-Zionism and anti-colonialism are antisemitic," Jacob asserted. "Never felt unsafe, never felt unwelcome in these spaces. Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism."
San Francisco State President Lynn Mahoney has emphasized the university's support for peaceful protest and said the university has already taken steps to divest.
This story was produced based on original reporting by Sonali Kolhatkar for Yes! Media.
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