The Native vote is expected to be a deciding factor in competitive races across Arizona on Election Day in November.
NATIVE HEALTH of Phoenix will host, in collaboration with the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, its second “Frybread for the Future,” a nonpartisan voter registration event at its Mesa clinic on Saturday, July 13.
It recently became the first Indian Health Service facility nationwide to get permission to register Indigenous voters and secure a site designation under the National Voter Registration Act.
Tribal royalty are also playing a part in getting Indigenous peoples out to the polls, most notably 25-year-old Miss Indian World Kassie John. She’s Diné and the first Navajo woman to win the crown in a decade.
“Please look into registering yourselves to make sure that you’re ready for this election year,” John told the 1,000 or so people who turned out last month. “As Indigenous peoples, it is so, so important that we show up to those polls.”
“That’s why I’m here today,” John said. “We are stronger together, where we can advocate for our communities, advocate for our culture, our language, and the importance of who we are as Indigenous peoples.”
The Native American Rights Fund estimates that about 1.5 million Native Americans are eligible to vote, but remain unregistered.
