The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) announced that four individuals and four Alaska Native tribal governments asked on Tuesday to join with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in a Washington D.C. federal court to defend the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act as challenged by the state of Alaska in the case Alaska v. Holder. Both the individuals and groups will be represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACL) and NARF. Alaska is one of only a few U.S. states that must abide by Section IV and Section V of the Voting Rights Act. Section IV requires that Alaska provide information on all stages of the voting process statewide in all Native languages. Section V asks that the state show that any changes made to the election process will not negatively effect, either unintentionally or intentionally, minority voters.
As it stands, the state argues it should not be subject to the federal provisions, and the plaintiffs and ACL, NARF, Holder and others believe that Alaska has not honored these sections of the Voting Rights Act and should still be subject to such election oversight.
NARF attorney Natalie Landreth said, “The four Alaska Natives and four tribal governments represent a cross-section of voters who continue to face barriers to voting as a result of the State’s neglect, unequal treatment and violations of the law.” Landreth added, “Discrimination in Alaska is not a thing of the past, and federal oversight of Alaska’s election is no accident.”
The four groups involved are the Emmonak Tribal Council, Bethel’s Kasigulk Traditional Council, the Togiak Traditional council in the Dillingham region and Levelock Village Council in the Lake and Peninsula Borough.
Full Article: Alaska Natives, tribal groups ask to intervene in Alaska’s challenge of Voting Rights Act | Alaska Dispatch.