Native Vote

National Congress of American Indians Conference Attendees Get Out the Vote

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA– The National Congress of American Indians, NCAI, is serious about getting their motto "Every Native Vote Counts!"

"Every Native Vote Counts!" Alfreda Walker Joins the Callers Making It Count

At their 69th Annual Conference and Marketplace, the organization's get out the vote initiative Native Vote set up a booth in the marketplace to bring awareness to the importance of voting in the upcoming election on November 6.

As an incentive to get conference attendees involved, Native Vote enticed them with a t-shirt if they called voters in their home area to make sure they were going to vote.

The list was compiled of registered voters from states where the Native American vote is high. Then they had to check a box to say they are Native American. The National Congress of American Indians only required that the conference participants make ten calls, if a caller answered a script was provided asking if they were planning on voting, when to vote and thanking them for their vote.

Ely Shoshone tribal member, Alfreda Walker, from Nevada had just finished her phone calls and explained her reasons for helping when I stopped by to talk to her.

“I think it is important that our native people get out and vote. Our ancestors weren't allowed to so I am going to make my vote count,”

he stated.

Walker also said that many of the people that she called either weren't home, numbers didn't work or she left messages.

The National Congress of American Indians staff said this also helps them if a voter registration needs to be updated as well.

posted October 26, 2012 6:40 am edt