III 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 631 

Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Indian Civil Rights Act and voting 

rights for American Indian and Alaska Native communities across the 

country. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2018 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Mr. UDALL) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Indian Civil Rights 

Act and voting rights for American Indian and Alaska 

Native communities across the country. 

Whereas American Indians and Alaska Natives have historically been denied the right to vote; 

Whereas, after serving in World War II and returning home, 

many American Indian veterans were not able to vote; 

Whereas, on July 15, 1946, in Harrison v. Laveen, Chief 

Justice Levi S. Udall of the Arizona Supreme Court 

ruled that Maricopa County, Arizona, must allow Mohave-Apache Indians to register to vote, overruling decades of precedent in which the State of Arizona prohibited American Indians from voting; 


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•SRES 631 IS 

Whereas, in holding that American Indians were entitled to 

the franchise, Chief Justice Udall noted that, ‘‘[i]n a democracy suffrage is the most basic civil right, since its 

exercise is the chief means whereby other rights may be 

safeguarded. To deny the right to vote, where one is legally entitled to do so, is to do violence to the principles 

of freedom and equality.’’; 

Whereas, in New Mexico in 1948, Miguel Trujillo, a Marine 

Corps veteran and Isleta Pueblo tribal member, was 

turned away from registering to vote because he was living on a reservation; 

Whereas, in 1948, the United States District Court for the 

District of New Mexico struck down limitations in the 

State Constitution of New Mexico that prevented those 

who lived on reservations from voting; 

Whereas, prior to 1968, American Indians were not provided 

the same protections as other citizens under the United 

States Constitution; 

Whereas, in 1968, Congress passed the Indian Civil Rights 

Act ‘‘to ensure that the American Indian is afforded the 

broad constitutional rights secured to other Americans’’; 

Whereas Alaska was the last State to enfranchise American 

Indian voters in 1970; 

Whereas, even though American Indians and Alaska Natives 

currently have the lawful right to vote across the United 

States, they continue to face barriers and obstacles to 

voting; 

Whereas some American Indians and Alaska Natives in Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, Minnesota, South Dakota, and 

other States may have to travel 50 to 400 miles to vote; 


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•SRES 631 IS 

Whereas the Native American vote continues to play a significant role in local, State, and national elections; 

Whereas, in States such as Alaska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, 

and South Dakota, American Indians and Alaska Natives 

comprise 10 percent or more of the voting-age population; 

Whereas American Indians and Alaska Natives serve in the 

United States military at a higher per capita rate than 

any other ethnic group; and 

Whereas American Indians and Alaska Natives are an important part of the history of the United States, and vibrant 

contributors to the social and political fabric of the 

United States: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) honors the 50th anniversary of title II of 

3 the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (25 U.S.C. 1301 et 

4 seq.; commonly known as the ‘‘Indian Civil Rights 

5 Act of 1968’’); and 

6 (2) recognizes the important contributions of 

7 Native Americans to expanding voting rights for all 

8 citizens of the United States. 

Æ 


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