Overview:
NARF’s Native Vote Week, Oct. 5-9, highlights Native voting power, voter resources and persistent barriers to the ballot as the 2026 midterm elections approach.
Native Vote 2026
As the 2026 midterm elections approach, the Native American Rights Fund is holding Native Vote Week Oct. 5-9 to highlight Native voting rights, voter resources and the barriers Native voters continue to face at the polls.
Throughout the week, NARF will use its website and social media platforms to spotlight resources and tools designed to help Native voters understand the voting process and exercise their right to vote.
The initiative comes as Native voters prepare to participate in elections that will determine control of Congress, state legislatures and other offices across the country.
NARF will share voter resources designed to answer questions Native voters may have before and on Election Day. The organization also will highlight the Native American Voting Rights Act, or NAVRA, legislation intended to expand and improve Native Americans’ access to the ballot.
The organization also is releasing a new “Power of the Vote” video featuring NARF Senior Staff Attorney Allison Neswood. The video explains the potential impact Native voters can have when they are able to participate successfully in elections.
NARF also will highlight its recently released report, Obstacles Persist: According to the Data, which examines voting data collected by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission from the 2020, 2022 and 2024 elections.
The report documents persistent barriers Native Americans face when registering to vote and casting ballots, particularly in counties with larger Native populations.
Among the report’s findings:
- Rejections of voter registration applications submitted by mail and at departments of motor vehicles increased sharply in counties with larger Native populations, even as rejection rates declined nationally. Rejections increased by an average of 200% in counties where Native Americans make up at least one-quarter of the population.
- Rejection rates for mail-in ballots increased in counties with larger Native populations even as the number of people voting by mail declined. Between 2020 and 2024, rejections because of missed deadlines increased 134% in counties where Native Americans make up more than 25% of the population, compared with a 55% increase nationally.
- Although the percentage of provisional ballots successfully counted in counties with larger Native populations increased between 2020 and 2024, the rate remained 15% below the national rate.
NARF said the data demonstrates that Native voters continue to encounter obstacles that can make voting more difficult, including problems involving registration, mail ballots and provisional ballots.
“Native communities face unique barriers when trying to cast a ballot,” Neswood said. “Despite that, Native voters continue to engage in a process that often is designed to make voting as difficult as possible.”
Native voting-rights advocates have long documented challenges that can disproportionately affect voters living in Indian Country, including long distances to polling places, limited access to mail services and difficulties obtaining acceptable identification or registering to vote.
Native Vote Week also provides an opportunity for journalists covering the 2026 elections to better understand those challenges.
NARF and the Indigenous Journalists Association recently co-hosted a webinar focused on how journalists can provide a clearer picture of voting experiences in Native communities. The webinar offers guidance for journalists covering Native voters and voting-rights issues during the election.
With Election Day approaching, NARF is using Native Vote Week to emphasize both the obstacles Native voters continue to encounter and the political power Native communities can exercise when those barriers are removed.
The effort underscores a central message of Native voting-rights advocates: Native voters are an important and increasingly influential part of the American electorate, and ensuring access to the ballot is essential to Native self-determination.
