Welcome to the National Congress of American Indians’ 2008 Native Vote Campaign official website! We hope this site will be an instrumental tool for your community as we gear up for one of the biggest elections in years. This year, America will pick a new President, decide the balance in Congress, and vote in important state and local elections. We want Indian Country’s voice to be heard! On this site you will find everything from voter registration information to grassroots voter training information. We hope it is helpful as you work in your communities to get out the Native Vote.

Our 2008 Native Vote Campaign is an extensive national non-partisan effort to mobilize the American Indian and Alaska Native vote in collaboration with regional organizations, local tribal governments, centers serving the Indian populations of urban areas, and non-governmental organizations whose focus is on democracy initiatives.

In 2004, NCAI spearheaded this groundbreaking campaign to register and turn out a record number of American Indian and Alaska Native voters. The culmination of the Native Vote efforts in 2004 and 2006 was a resounding moment for tribal governments nationwide, as it empowered Native voters and raised the profile of Native issues in the eyes of politicians. It was a truly a historic moment for all of Indian Country. Native voters proved that we can make our voices heard with the power of the vote.

Native Vote is a permanent project intended to advance the Native agenda at all levels of decision-making and promote Native candidates to public offices. Our next step is to protect the incredible strides that we have made and be proactive in our approach to Native Vote. We must ensure that Natives’ right to vote is never threatened again, as it has been in the past. We need consultation with Secretaries of States and Election Boards to maximize accessibility to the polls. We should be heartened by court victories that guaranteed the right to use tribal identification documents to vote. These are huge victories for Native voters. We must not wait until election time to be concerned with elections.

The rising political clout of Native voters will only grow going forward, as the unified voice of American Indian/Alaska Natives becomes a force for political candidates to address Native concerns by developing platform statements and making campaign promises to Native voters. The power of the vote will put Native issues before elected leaders like never before in history.