Statement from Senior Advisor and Chief Spokesperson Symone Sanders on Vice President Kamala Harris’s Meeting with Tribal leaders and Leaders from American Indian and Alaska Native Communities about Voting Rights
Today Vice President Kamala Harris hosted a discussion in her ceremonial office to engage with Tribal leaders and leaders from American Indian and Alaska Native communities about voting rights. She was joined by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. The Vice President thanked the participants for their work to protect voting rights, and they discussed ways to make voting more accessible.
During the meeting, the leaders shared how Native Americans have long faced challenges to exercise their fundamental right to vote–from the long distance voters must travel to reach their polling places to anti-voter laws that directly impact Tribal communities. The leaders also shared how they are engaging voters–and in particular young voters–in their communities, by connecting the issues they care about to their vote.
In her role leading the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts on voting rights, the Vice President is working with a broad coalition to protect and strengthen the right to vote. The Vice President has convened Americans from all walks of life to share their stories and provide input – including a meeting the Vice President held last week with poll workers to hear about their experiences helping voters cast their ballot and have their ballots counted.
The leaders who participated in today’s meeting included:
- Secretary Deb Haaland, (Pueblo of Laguna)
- President Kevin Killer, (Oglala Lakota Nation) (SD)
- Allie Young, (Dine’ or Navajo Nation) (AZ)
- Chairwoman Shelly Fyant, (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes) (Bitterroot-Salish) (MT)
- Julie Kitka, (President of the Alaska Federation of Natives) (Chugach Eskimo Village of Nuchek) (AK)
- Prairie Rose Seminole, (Three Affiliated Tribes of Mandan Hidatsa and Arikara) (ND)
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