Although many people think it’s relatively easy to get a state issued ID, one Navajo elder would disagree.
Aura Bogado, Hillary Abe and Voting Rights Watch
Obtaining a state-issued ID is a lot harder than some people might think. Agnes Laughter, an elder from the small rural town of Chilchinbeto on the Navajo Nation, tried time and time again. But Laughter, who only speaks Navajo, was told she didn’t have the right documentation. Determined to not be defeated, she enlisted the help of a dozen volunteers to help with gathering documents, and providing interpretation and legal assistance so that she could finally get her ID. Countless others on the Navajo Nation remain in a similar predicament.
This video, produced by our Flagstaff-based community journalist Hillary Abe, illustrates why voter ID is an impediment to casting a ballot.
For more on the restriction of Native Americans' voting rights, read Aura Bogado’s “Democracy in ‘Suspense’: Why Arizona’s Native Voters Are in Peril.”
Aura BogadoTwitterAura Bogado writes about race, justice and the environment.
Hillary AbeHillary Abe works for College Horizons, a national non-profit focused on facilitating the higher education of Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian youth. Based in Flagstaff, Arizona, Hillary is also a videographer and an aspiring filmmaker, and you can see more of his work here.
Voting Rights WatchBrentin Mock and Aura Bogado cover voter-suppression efforts nationwide in a 2012–2013 project in partnership with Colorlines.com.