Each Vote Strengthens Democracy

Green Bay Press-Gazette
October 6, 2004 Wednesday

Each vote strengthens democracy

America's 562 native American tribes have figured out how to maximize their
clout on Nov. 2.

It's called Native Vote 2004, a non-partisan drive to bring native Americans
to the polls, where their participation in presidential elections has not
always kept up with the rest of the population.

"The power of the native vote, and I think both Kerry and Bush do not
completely understand this, is it's not just 1 million votes. It's where
those million votes are: in swing states like Arizona, New Mexico,
Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota," Tex Hall, president of the 60-year-old
National Congress of American Indians, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
recently.

The impact could be significant in a state like Wisconsin, where an
estimated 30,000 native Americans are of voting age and where Democrat Al
Gore beat Republican candidate George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential
election by around 6,000 votes.

Since native Americans traditionally have leaned to the Democratic
candidate, will Native Vote 2004 give a boost to Democrat John Kerry?

Not necessarily, Republican lawyer Carl Artman told the Journal Sentinel.
Artman, who counsels the Oneida Tribe, said, "The joke for the Republicans
that are here (on the Oneida Reservation in Brown and Outagamie counties) is
that we're the token Republicans. But that's changing across the country as
a growing number of native Americans lean Republican.

Native Vote 2004 is just one of many efforts this year to engage targeted
groups of potential voters in the election process. For example, the
non-partisan New Voters Project, targeting young voters in battleground
states, counts more than 308,000 new voters as the result of its efforts,
117 percent of its goal for the campaign season.

"Wisconsin's role in this fall's elections is seen as pivotal," said Kevin
Kennedy, executive director of the State Elections Board. "The enthusiasm of
the New Voters Project activists has generated a significant increase in the
number of new voters in Wisconsin. I expect that the efforts to register and
mobilize young voters will be felt at the polls this fall."

The non-partisan Rock the Vote, begun by members of the recording industry,
claims more than 1 million new registered young voters nationwide. There's
the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, Punk Voter, the League of Independent
Voters, Plea for Peace and dozens of other groups, including the Kerry and
Bush campaigns, all trying to engage new voters in the election process. The
U.S. military is trying to make it easier for overseas troops to vote. And
there are countless local efforts under way.

Like Native Vote 2004, they may not give a particular candidate the edge,
but every additional vote on Nov. 2 will contribute to a healthier
democracy.