For the People Act of 2021 (H.R. 1; 117th Congress)/Division A/Title II/Subtitle B

by John Sarbanes

SEC. 2101. - FINDINGS RELATING TO NATIVE AMERICAN VOTING RIGHTS.

Congress finds the following:

(1) The right to vote for all Americans is sacred. Congress must fulfill the Federal Government’s trust responsibility to protect and promote Native Americans’ exercise of their fundamental right to vote, including equal access to voter registration voting mechanisms and locations, and the ability to serve as election officials.

(2) The Native American Voting Rights Coalition’s four-State survey of voter discrimination (2016) and nine field hearings in Indian Country (2017–2018) revealed obstacles that Native Americans must overcome, including a lack of accessible and proximate registration and polling sites, nontraditional addresses for residents on Indian reservations, inadequate language assistance for Tribal members, and voter identification laws that discriminate against Native Americans. The Department of Justice and courts have recognized that some jurisdictions have been unresponsive to reasonable requests from federally recognized Indian Tribes for more accessible and proximate voter registration sites and in-person voting locations.

(3) The 2018 midterm and 2020 general elections provide further evidence that systemic voter discrimination and intimidation continues to occur in communities of color and Tribal lands across the country, making it clear that democracy reform cannot be achieved until Congress restores key provisions of the Voting Rights Act and passes additional protections.

(4) Congress has broad, plenary authority to enact legislation to safeguard the voting rights of Native American voters.

(5) Congress must conduct investigatory and evidentiary hearings to determine the necessary legislation to restore the Voting Rights Act and combat continuous efforts that suppress the voter franchise within Tribal lands, to include, but not to be limited to, the Native American Voting Rights Act (NAVRA) and the Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA).