Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Native Americans punished by new Montana ballot rules, suit says

Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Montana

Montana has seven rural reservations, including the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. They have limited access to mail service, making it difficult to vote.

Holger Leue/Getty Images

Montana's new restrictions on the handling of mail-in ballots illegally discriminate against Native Americans and will suppress their turnout this fall, the American Civil Liberties Union and five tribes alleged Thursday.

They filed a lawsuit asking a state court to strike down a measure approved by voters in 2018 and just now taking effect. They say new curbs on who may collect others' ballots, and how many, effectively disenfranchise Native Americans who live in remote areas without home mail delivery.

It is the newest front in the fight for voting rights across Indian Country, coming a month after the settlement of a legal battle allowing North Dakotans living on reservations to cast ballots even without complying with the state's restrictive voter ID law.


Voting rights advocates and Democrats generally favor permissive rules about party operatives or neighbors collecting the absentee or vote-by-mail ballots of others and delivering them to local election offices. They say that boosts civic participation by the elderly and people in remote areas. But Republicans say the practice known as "ballot harvesting" is ripe for vote fraud — and, in fact, a do-over was ordered in 2018 in a North Carolina congressional district amid evidence the GOP candidate's allies had abused the system.

In Montana, where most voting is done by mail ahead of Election Day, 63 percent of voters approved new rules, proposed by the solidly GOP Legislature two years ago, including a cap of six ballots that can be dropped off by one person and a requirement that the person dropping off the ballots complete a registry form, with a $500 penalty for violations.

That "ignores the everyday realities that face Native American communities," Jacqueline De León of the Native American Rights Fund said in a statement announcing the suit. "It is not reasonable to expect voters to drive an hour to drop off their ballot, so collecting ballots in reservation communities just makes sense."

Six percent of the state's population identifies as American Indian. There are eight tribes and seven very rural reservations, with a combined population of 70,000 who have limited access to mail service and high poverty rates, meaning long drives can be a hardship.

The suit says that two Native American advocacy groups in the state have been assigning their canvassers to collect an average of 85 ballots each in recent election.

Montana is among the last states with a presidential primary, on June 2. It is colored a relatively deep red on the November presidential map, President Trump having carried it by 20 points last time, although the Democrats are bullish in picking up an open Senate seat since Gov. Steve Bullock changed his mind this week and decided to go after it.

Also, the census is expected to show enough recent population growth in Montana to give it a second House seat for the coming decade, and demographics plus the presence of an independent redistricting commission mean that new district will likely tilt blue.

Read More

Entertainment Can Improve How Democrats and Republicans See Each Other

Since the development of American mass media culture in the mid-20th century, numerous examples of entertainment media have tried to improve attitudes towards those who have traditionally held little power.

Getty Images, skynesher

Entertainment Can Improve How Democrats and Republicans See Each Other

Entertainment has been used for decades to improve attitudes toward other groups, both in the U.S. and abroad. One can think of movies like Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, helping change attitudes toward Black Americans, or TV shows like Rosanne, helping humanize the White working class. Efforts internationally show that media can sometimes improve attitudes toward two groups concurrently.

Substantial research shows that Americans now hold overly negative views of those across the political spectrum. Let's now learn from decades of experience using entertainment to improve attitudes of those in other groups—but also from counter-examples that have reinforced stereotypes and whose techniques should generally be avoided—in order to improve attitudes toward fellow Americans across politics. This entertainment can allow Americans across the political spectrum to have more accurate views of each other while realizing that successful cross-ideological friendships and collaborations are possible.

Keep ReadingShow less
Close-up of military man holding hands with his therapist during counseling at mental health center.

PTSD Awareness Day is not only a time to advocate for veterans' mental health but also an opportunity for all Americans to reflect on the emotional responses triggered by political division.

Getty Images, Drazen Zigic

National PTSD Awareness Day: A Call to Action for Veterans and Civil Discourse

Each year on June 27, National PTSD Awareness Day shines a light on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), encouraging those affected to seek support. This observance was officially recognized by the U.S. Senate in 2010, following an initiative by Senator Kent Conrad to honor a North Dakota National Guard member who tragically took his own life after serving two tours in Iraq.

PTSD can develop after experiencing or witnessing traumatic events such as combat, assault, accidents, or natural disasters. Its symptoms—ranging from flashbacks and anxiety to mood swings and avoidance behaviors—can be deeply disruptive. PTSD Awareness Day is part of PTSD Awareness Month, which spans the entire month of June, promoting education, treatment options, and community support for those affected.

Keep ReadingShow less
International Students Cope With Growing Mental Health Issues
woman in brown sweater covering her face with her hand
Photo by Dev Asangbam on Unsplash

International Students Cope With Growing Mental Health Issues

Maeve Zhu, an undergraduate at the University of Washington, said moving to Seattle with hopes of studying computer science quickly became overwhelming.

"The hardest part for adjusting to life in the U.S. as an international undergrad was also my first year living overseas alone without my parents around me," said Maeve Zhu, an undergraduate at UW. "Trying to manage your time, your money, and your energy, all while being so lonely, the first year felt like living in a nightmare."

Keep ReadingShow less