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Natives Vote

Parent Organization: IllumiNative; Native Organizers Alliance
Website:

nativesvote2020.com/
Principal Officers:

Judith LeBlanc and Crystal Echohawk
Formation:

Prior to the 2020 Election

Not to be confused with Native Vote, a voter engagement project of the National Congress of American Indians.

Natives Vote is a left-of-center Native American activist organization formed by collaboration between left-of-center Native American activist organizations IllumiNative, Native Organizers Alliance, and the University of Colorado Boulder’s1 First Peoples Worldwide.2 3

Natives Vote produced and distributed artwork,4 including pieces showing the destruction of Mt. Rushmore, 5 6 as a part of its effort to expand Native American voter turnout in the 2020 election. Natives Vote receives research support and funding from left-of-center advocacy group NDN Collective7 and routes its online donations through the left-of-center ActBlue Charities.8

Judith LeBlanc, former national vice-chair of the Communist Party USA 9 10 and director of the left-of-center Native Organizers Alliance (NOA) is one of Natives Vote’s co-chairs. 11 12

History and Leadership

Natives Vote was founded as a collaborative effort between the left-of-center IllumiNative, Native Organizers Alliance, and University of Colorado Boulder’s First Peoples Worldwide to use the 2020 election as an “inflection point”13 to increase Native American political power and increase voter turnout throughout Indian Country.14

Judith LeBlanc, former national vice-chair of the Communist Party USA15 16 and director of the left-of-center Native Organizers Alliance,17 co-leads Natives Vote with Crystal Echohawk, director of the left-of-center IllumiNative. 18 19 Echohawk has made 62 donations to political candidates or committees since 2018, all either directly to Democratic Party candidates or routed through ActBlue.20

Activities and Funding

Natives Vote focused on the production and distribution of artwork, videos,21 apparel, and gear (such as branded COVID face masks) 22 to increase Native American turnout around the country. Natives Vote’s branded “voting is sacred” t-shirts were “a few of the incentives used to energize voters” at two or more voting sites in Nevada.23

Natives Vote’s 2020 election artwork collection to encourage voter participation includes two images which show the destruction of Mt. Rushmore along with “defend sovereignty,” “vote early,” and “vote” slogans.24 25

In addition to their art and media activities, Natives Vote co-hosted a town hall with IllumiNative and NOA to increase youth turnout in 202026 and asked individuals to call the phone number associated with27 the left-of-center Election Protection Coalition for voting assistance.28

Prior to the 2020 election, Natives Vote used TurboVote,29 a project of Democracy Works, a non-profit that promotes the use of technology to increase voter engagement largely funded by left-of-center private foundations,30 to steer individuals to check registration status and register to vote on their site.31

Despite being organization formed by the left-of-center IllumiNative, Native Organizers Alliance (NOA), and First Peoples Project,32 33 Natives Vote also received financial support from the University of Colorado Boulder Outreach Awards Committee34 and received research funding from left-of-center advocacy group NDN Collective.35

In 2020, Natives Vote hosted a 2020 election pledge on the left-of-center fundraising website Action Network36 and redirected potential donors to an ActBlue network fundraising webpage which informs donors that their donation will benefit the left-of-center Native Organizers Alliance and not the Natives Vote organization.37

References

  1. “Faculty Led Projects.” University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado Law. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://www.colorado.edu/law/academics/public-service/service-opportunities/faculty-led-projects.
  2. “Social Justice and Voter Enfranchisement in Indian Country.” First Peoples Worldwide, University of Colorado Boulder. October 30, 2020. Accessed via Web Archive. https://web.archive.org/web/20210426131136/https://www.colorado.edu/program/fpw/2020/10/30/social-justice-and-voter-enfranchisement-indian-country.
  3. “About the Campaign.” Natives Vote. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://nativesvote2020.com/about-the-campaign.
  4. “Art.” Natives Vote. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://nativesvote2020.com/art.
  5. “At the Mountains of Rushmore: Defend Sovereignty VOTE EARLY.” Nathaniel Ruleaux Art. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://nathanielruleaux.com/nativesvote-2020/ysw4r3tad15i00xs0455qa8tnl1il3.
  6. “At the Mountains of Rushmore: VOTE.” Nathaniel Ruleaux Art. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://nathanielruleaux.com/nativesvote-2020/ysw4r3tad15i00xs0455qa8tnl1il3.
  7. “About the Campaign.” Natives Vote. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://nativesvote2020.com/about-the-campaign.
  8. “Natives Vote 2020.” ActBlue Fundraising Site. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/nativesvote.
  9. “Live Audio Stream of the CPUSA National Board Meeting January 26, 2003.” CPUSA.org. January 26, 2003. https://www.cpusa.org/article/live-audio-stream-of-the-cpusa-national-board-meeting-january-26-2003/.
  10. “Judith LeBlanc.” CSPAN. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://www.c-span.org/person/?judithleblanc.
  11. Herrera, Allison. “Voting Advocates Expect Indigenous Participation To Increase in 2020 Election.” KOSU NPR. November 3, 2020. https://www.kosu.org/politics/2020-11-03/voting-advocates-expect-indigenous-participation-to-increase-in-2020-election.
  12. “Judith LeBlanc.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/judith-leblanc-b3ba7a3/.
  13. “Natives Vote.” Native Organizers Alliance. September 21, 2020. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://nativeorganizing.org/natives-vote/.
  14. “Natives Vote.” Native Organizers Alliance. September 21, 2020. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://nativeorganizing.org/natives-vote/.
  15. “Live Audio Stream of the CPUSA National Board Meeting January 26, 2003.” CPUSA.org. January 26, 2003. https://www.cpusa.org/article/live-audio-stream-of-the-cpusa-national-board-meeting-january-26-2003/.
  16. “Judith LeBlanc.” CSPAN. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://www.c-span.org/person/?judithleblanc.
  17. “About Us.” Native Organizers Alliance. Accessed April 26, 2021. http://nativeorganizing.org/about-us/.
  18. Herrera, Allison. “Voting Advocates Expect Indigenous Participation To Increase in 2020 Election.” KOSU NPR. November 3, 2020. https://www.kosu.org/politics/2020-11-03/voting-advocates-expect-indigenous-participation-to-increase-in-2020-election.
  19. “Judith LeBlanc.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/judith-leblanc-b3ba7a3/.
  20. “Crystal Echohawk.” FEC Individual Contributions. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=crystal+echohawk.
  21. “Benjamin Bratt on Natives Vote.” IllumiNative Facebook. September 23, 2020. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://m.facebook.com/IllumiNativeOrg/videos/250775352941704/.
  22. “Art.” Natives Vote. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://nativesvote2020.com/art.
  23. Orozco Rodriguez, Jazmin. “Tribal leaders spearhead mobilization efforts for untapped Native voters dealing with ‘tyranny of distance.’” The Nevada Independent. November 3, 2020. https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/tribal-leaders-spearhead-mobilization-efforts-for-untapped-native-voters-dealing-with-tyranny-of-distance-among-other-voting-obstacles.
  24. “At the Mountains of Rushmore: Defend Sovereignty VOTE EARLY.” Nathaniel Ruleaux Art. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://nathanielruleaux.com/nativesvote-2020/ysw4r3tad15i00xs0455qa8tnl1il3.
  25. “At the Mountains of Rushmore: VOTE.” Nathaniel Ruleaux Art. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://nathanielruleaux.com/nativesvote-2020/ysw4r3tad15i00xs0455qa8tnl1il3.
  26. “Natives Vote Town Hall.” IllumiNative. Facebook Video. September 22, 2020. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://m.facebook.com/events/3319304298155634.
  27. “Upcoming Elections in Your State.” Election Protection 866-OUR-VOTE. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://866ourvote.org/.
  28. “Natives vote on Election Day.” Press Release. Indian Country Today. November 3, 2020. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://indiancountrytoday.com/the-press-pool/natives-vote-on-election-day?redir=1.
  29. “Home.” Natives Vote. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://nativesvote2020.com/.
  30. “BallotReady.” InfluenceWatch. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://www.influencewatch.org/for-profit/ballotready/.
  31. Janfaza, Rachel. “Snapchat announces tools to increase youth voter engagement.” CNN.com. August 6, 2020. Accessed April 25, 2021. https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/06/politics/snapchat-voting-tools/index.html.
  32. “Social Justice and Voter Enfranchisement in Indian Country.” First Peoples Worldwide, University of Colorado Boulder. October 30, 2020. Accessed via Web Archive. https://web.archive.org/web/20210426131136/https://www.colorado.edu/program/fpw/2020/10/30/social-justice-and-voter-enfranchisement-indian-country.
  33. “About the Campaign.” Natives Vote. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://nativesvote2020.com/about-the-campaign.
  34. “About the Campaign.” Natives Vote. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://nativesvote2020.com/about-the-campaign.
  35. “About the Campaign.” Natives Vote. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://nativesvote2020.com/about-the-campaign.
  36. “2020 Election Pledge.” ActionNetwork.org. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://actionnetwork.org/forms/2020-election-pledge?source=email2&link_id=1&can_id=7279f43f6828d8e9687b1f6d5de91e31&email_referrer=email_955619&email_subject=this-indigenous-peoples-day-couldnt-be-more-important.
  37. “Natives Vote 2020.” ActBlue Fundraising Site. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/nativesvote.
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