Nevada secretary of state’s listening tour aims to widen tribal election engagement

A woman deposits her voting machine activation card into a box after voting at a polling site in the Galleria At Sunset mall in Henderson Tuesday, June 11, 2024. Photo by: Steve Marcus

Editor's note: Este artículo está traducido al español.

Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar has launched a tour across Nevada to meet with all 28 tribal nations, addressing voting access challenges.

The listening tour began Tuesday at the historic Stewart Indian School Cultural Center and Museum near Carson City, marking the first step in Aguilar’s effort to strengthen electoral participation among Nevada’s Indigenous communities.

“It’s the responsibility of state leaders to spend time with tribal communities, to understand the challenges, the issues and figure out solutions,” said Aguilar, a Democrat, “We want to ensure we’re listening to all Nevadans, and that includes our tribal communities.”

His office brings positive developments to celebrate during the outreach: Voter participation on tribal land surged 36% in the 2024 election, partly due to 2023 legislation establishing polling locations in 20 of Nevada’s Native American communities.

Aguilar called the change both an “aha moment” and a wake-up call that the state government had not done enough to reach voters on tribal lands.

“We need to understand why that happened, why it occurred and what we need to do moving forward so that we ensure every Nevadan has access to the ballot box,” Aguilar said.

He emphasized that accessibility remained his focus, adding that he would ask how to better get people comfortable with voting digitally or with a mail ballot.

Only a few dozen tribal community members voted digitally. The 2023 legislation allowed voters on tribal land to use the same system as overseas military personnel.

Stacey Montooth, executive director of the Nevada Department of Native American Affairs, said she didn’t credit one specific bill for the sharp participation increase.

“There’s not one size fits all when it comes to our tribal communities,” Montooth said. “Everybody has a different option. And isn’t that what democracy is about?”

The level of improvement seen in Nevada is rare among states with significant Indigenous populations, and Aguilar said he “constantly” talks to other secretaries of state, Republicans and Democrats, about voter access issues.

“The fact that we were able to increase voting among our tribal members is incredible,” he said. “They’re asking us questions about ‘How did we do this?’ Again, it’s caring, taking the time to understand it, learn it and then being able to execute and implement.”

Montooth wants political engagement to move beyond the ballot box, with people engaging with the Legislature, participating in hearings and watching Senate and Assembly debates.

She acknowledged where Aguilar started his tour: a site where the American government for decades forced the assimilation of Indigenous children.

“The motto for the federal government was ‘kill the Indian, save the man.’ ” Montooth said. “Here we are in 2025 and, again, our Native Americans are going to the polls, they’re voting in higher numbers than ever before.”

Modern barriers worry Montooth. In January, U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, introduced the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship when people register to vote.

A tribal ID alone wouldn’t suffice; it would need to be paired with a document like a birth certificate or hospital record, which the Native American Rights Fund says isn’t always readily available to Indigenous people and can be expensive to replace.

“There’s been so much work done,” Montooth said. “I really would think that it would be a setback if tribal IDs were not acceptable anymore to participate in democracy.”

President Donald Trump’s March executive order on voting also mandated proof of citizenship, modifying election procedures through the executive branch instead of state governments and Congress.

Aguilar and Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, a hopeful for the Democratic nomination for governor, joined other states in a lawsuit this month calling the president’s actions unconstitutional.

“We have proven time and time again that Nevada runs some of the most secure, transparent and accessible elections in the country,” Aguilar wrote. “There is no lawful basis for these attempts to force Nevada to change its policy.