Washington lawmakers passed the Native American Voting Rights Act last year, but they couldn’t have expected the pandemic and wildfires to come.
Leaders of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation are worried the challenges of the coronavirus and devastating wildfires may present too many hurdles for the people who live on this sprawling 2.1 million acre reservation in northeastern Washington.
“It seems like it’s been one thing after another,” said tribal Chairman Rodney Cawston. “These emergencies we’ve had to deal with couldn’t have come at a worse time.”
Cawston says the twin crises of 2020 have also made it harder to conduct adequate voter outreach to make sure people register and have the information they need to vote. Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic hit Washington, the Colville Tribes closed their borders to most outsiders in hopes of halting its spread. Then, more recently, fires ravaged their reservation lands and burned down dozens of homes.
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