Court says Native Vote T-shirts allowed at polls
Native Vote and Get Out the Native Vote messaging are nonpartisan apparel, U.S. district court judge says
In 2024, Lonnie Provost, a Yankton Sioux Tribe member, was denied his right to vote at the Wagner National Guard Armory in Wagner, South Dakota, because he refused to remove his T-shirt that read “NATIVE vote.”
On Election Day last week, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that Native vote messaging is non-partisan and protected speech under the First Amendment. Shirts designed to promote voting for Native Americans, unlike messages for candidates or ballot initiatives, are allowable polling site attire, according to the decision
The Native American Rights Fund brought the case to court, and also provided guidance to South Dakota poll workers ahead of the recent midterm elections on how to spot the shirts to prevent issues like what Provost encountered in 2024.
“Differences in artwork or wording alone do not remove apparel from this protection,” U.S. District Court Judge Karen Schreier wrote. “This order does not excuse compliance with otherwise lawful voter qualifications and voting procedures or authorize campaigning, intimidation, or disruptive conduct.”
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