The Short History of Native American Voting

Until 1948, the New Mexico Constitution forbade Native Americans from voting, and similar barriers existed in Arizona. Significant barriers to voting remain:

When Miguel Trujillo, from Isleta Pueblo and a veteran of the Marine Corps during World War II, went to register to vote, he was told by the county registrar, Eloy Garley, that he could not register since he was an Indian living on a reservation.

Trujillo was incensed. He brought suit against the county registrar and won. (Trujillo v. Garley) Felix Cohen, who had written the definitive book on Indian law, the Handbook of Federal Indian Law, was Trujillo’s attorney. Finally, in 1948, Indians in New Mexico could vote for the first time. Trujillo and Cohen became friends and worked on other issues of civil rights in New Mexico and in the South.

The case also debunked the myth that Indians did not pay taxes. The only taxes Indians did not pay, the court said, was taxes on the land the government held in trust for them. They had to pay sales taxes, income taxes, and all other taxes.

In that same year, a lawsuit by another Indian veteran, Frank Harrison, in Arizona, let Indians vote for the first time in that state. (Harrison and Austin v. Laveen) Harrison was a member of the Mohave Tribe. He had tried to register to vote in Maricopa County, Arizona, and been denied by the county recorder, Roger Laveen. The ubiquitous Felix Cohen was also one of the attorneys in this landmark case. The National Congress of American Indians, the Department of Justice, and the Department of the Interior also filed amicus curiae (friends of the court) briefs in this case. Thereafter, it was clear in all states of the union that Indians could vote in tribal, state, local and federal elections. Utah, however, did not get around to removing this barrier to Indian voting for another two decades.

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/10/29/history-indian-voting-rights-and-why-its-important-vote-140373