Native Vote

Indian Country Makes Top 10 Twice in Support of Obama Last November

Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Briefs.Discussion »

PINE RIDGE INDIAN RESERVATION – President Barack Obama won big in at least two counties in Indian country last November in the 2012 presidential election.

Native Vote is designed to encourage American Indian and
Alaska Native people to exercise their right to vote.

Two of the top ten counties of the country's counties that voted overwhelmingly for President Obama are located in Indian reservations according to Bloomberg Political Capital that analyzed the presidential election results in an article earlier this month.

The number one county in the country was Shannon County in southwestern South Dakota, home of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where 93 percent of the citizens voted for President Obama for reelection. Shannon County has a population of 13,000 residents; 94 percent are American Indians, who are primarily members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Coming in ninth of the top ten counties was Menominee County, home of the Menominee Indian Reservation, in Wisconsin, some 45 miles from Green Bay. Some 86 percent of those voting in Menominee County voted for President Obama.

In recent election years, the National Congress of American Indians, through its Native Vote initiative has worked aggressively to get more American Indians and Alaska Natives to register to vote and then actually to vote in elections.

Native Vote is a nonpartisan campaign initiated by the organization. It is designed to encourage American Indian and Alaska Native people to exercise their right to vote.

Last year, Native Vote used the theme "Every Native Counts" was put on t-shirts and lapel buttons.

Bloomberg analyzed voting trends in some 3,000 nationwide.

posted January 31, 2013 8:57 am est