Nevada Native Vote Project

NNVP worked directly with left-of-center All Voting is Local to distribute voting materials to Native American voters throughout Nevada for the 2020 election. ³ This collaborative effort included outreach to Planned Parenthood patients and Planned Parenthood clinics to provide information about voting deadlines and election changes. ³

The left-of-center Native Organizers Alliance is one of NNVP’s funders and supporters. ⁴

NNVP was named in the Trump campaign’s 2020 election lawsuit in Nevada, which alleged that NNVP gave incentives such as T-shirts, gift cards, and raffle tickets in exchange for voting. ^{5 6 7} On its Facebook page, NNVP promoted raffles, including gift card raffles, for voters on several colonies and reservations across Nevada. ^{8 9 10 11 12}

NNVP coordinators Brian and Teresa Melendez hosted virtual candidate forums, registration drives, and other voter turnout events in coordination with the Nevada Democratic Party in 2020. ¹³

History and Leadership

Brian “BB” Melendez founded Nevada Native Vote Project and the Nevada Native American Democratic Caucus. ¹⁴ He is NNVP’s Native Vote Coordinator. ^{15 1} Teresa Melendez is NNVP’s Project Coordinator. ^{16 1}

According to the left-of-center Sierra Club Magazine, Brian and Teresa Melendez initially funded NNVP with their own money. ¹⁷ Prior to the 2020 election, the pair hosted virtual candidate forums, registration drives, and voter turnout events in coordination with the Nevada Democratic Party. ¹³

While NNVP claims to be nonpartisan, its leaders have supported far-left positions. In September 2020, Brian Melendez claimed, “if that piece of s*** @realDonaldTrump gets re-elected, he’s cancelling Christmas,” adding it was the “magic of the 2020 #NativeVote strategy.” ¹⁸ On November 3, 2020, Melendez posted online that “European-Americans are afraid of losing their sense of power and authority,” claiming all other ethnic groups had been “victims of domestic abuse and violence for 528 years.” ¹⁹ Shortly after the election, he claimed that the Native American vote, which he had helped to organize, was “mean huge left hook that defeated” former President Donald Trump. ²⁰

Ethan Doig is the strategy coordinator for NNVP and the senior advisor for the Nevada Native Caucus Democrats. ^{21 22} Doig has previously claimed that Nevada “is ALL stolen Indigenous land” and has supported a Nevada bill to waive higher education fees for Native American students. ²³ In January 2021, Doig referred to all those present at the protests and subsequent riot in Washington, D.C., on January 6 as “Nazis.” ²⁴

Activities and Funding

Nevada Native Vote Project is a Native American activist and voter turnout organization in the state of Nevada. ²⁵ For the 2020 election, NNVP worked directly with left-of-center All Voting is Local to distribute voting materials to Native American voters throughout the state and to expand in-person early voting and ballot drop boxes near reservations in Nevada. ^{3 26 27}

NNVP’s work with All Voting is Local included outreach to Planned Parenthood patients and Planned Parenthood clinics to provide information about voting deadlines and election changes. ³

NNVP was named in the Trump campaign’s 2020 election lawsuit in Nevada. The lawsuit alleged that  NNVP gave incentives such as T-shirts, gift cards, and raffle tickets in exchange for votes. ^{5 6 7} NNVP used social media to promote its raffles, including gift card raffles, for voters on several colonies and reservations across Nevada. ^{8 9 10 11 12}

NNVP used the left-of-center IllumiNative’s “Voting is Sacred” t-shirts as “incentives” to attract and energize voters at the Pyramid Lake and Reno-Sparks Indian Colony voting sites during early voting in November. ²⁷ NNVP also sponsored a virtual raffle for tribal members, residents, and employees with the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony (RSIC), which offered gift cards, t-shirts, and beadwork for voters. ²⁸

NNVP’s activities have continued following the 2020 election. On Thanksgiving Day in 2020, NNVP shared an IllumiNative post on social media urging readers to “create new traditions” and “say goodbye to harmful Thanksgiving myths that erase the devastation of colonization on native peoples.” ²⁹

NNVP supported the nomination and confirmation of then-U.S. Representative Deb Haaland (D-NM) to the position of Secretary of the Department of Interior. ^{30 31} In February 2021, NNVP hosted the “Advocacy & Storytelling 101” workshop, partnering again with All Voting is Local. ³²

The left-of-center Native Organizers Alliance is one of NNVP’s funders and supporters. ⁴