It’s more than a ballot, voting for some is life or death

SPEARFISH – An estimated 8 to 9 million people participated in the No Kings rallies across the nation in a coordinated day of action on Saturday. KBHB News estimated about 1,400 to 1,500 people attended the event in Rapid City, while the South Dakota Standard estimated the group to be upwards of 2 thousand or more gathered on Omaha Street from Fifth Street to Mount Rushmore. Sponsors Indivisible Rapid City and 50501 South Dakota also held events in Sturgis and Spearfish.

In Spearfish, there was a feeling of camaraderie among the estimated 400 or so gathered at the four corners at North Main Street and West Jackson Boulevard chanting “no kings.”

Protesters were united in their concerns about the war in Iran, immigration enforcement—particularly the actions of ICE—and broader economic issues. Their worries extended even further, with many holding signs highlighting fears about voting rights, election integrity, and the future of democracy.

New election laws are making registering to vote difficult for some groups who never had difficulties before, like married women. The Brennan Center for Justice says in addition, the SAVE America Act would eliminate or upend most methods of registering to vote, like mail and online registration. The National Conference of State Legislatures said that the bill doesn’t authorize federal funding for the new responsibilities it mandates and includes no phase in period meaning requirement would take effect immediately upon enactment. Critics say it is the most restricting voting bill ever passed by Congress.

Native voting advocates say these changes make a difficult situation even more so. From the new registration hurdles to long drives to the polls, the system is increasingly structured to wear people down, not welcome them in.

Executive Director of COUP (Community Organized for Unified Power) Council Natalie Stites Means said there needs to be an intense, organized, and sustained campaign of awareness and collective action. “What really needs to be done is the tabling of the blue thing at every single Native gathering from now until key deadlines. It can’t be any less than that. “

COUP focuses on empowering Indigenous people by fighting systemic racism, discrimination, and oppression. One of their key activities is building civic engagement and working to increase Indigenous voter turnout.

Stites Means said they need to be at powwows, school events, basketball games, health fairs, community meetings—any place people gather becomes an opportunity for registration, information, and conversation. Volunteers set up tables stocked with forms and flyers. They answer questions about IDs, explain early voting and absentee ballots, and help people sort through the confusion created by constant rule changes. Stites Means said that won’t be enough. There needs to be a broader communication push. “Combine that with media and social media and messaging. Each of the tribes need to have their effort for the Native vote, for civic engagement. And so does every single organization, every single agency.”

She said that means radio spots in Native languages, infographic posts on social media, and short videos where local elders, youth, and everyday voters talk about why casting a ballot matters. “The point is to move beyond abstract appeals to democracy and connect voting directly to lived experience: whether a clinic stays open, whether a school can hire a counselor, whether treaty promises are honored or ignored. I think it’s about holding the line, too, for our community to stay alive,” she said. Decisions on wages, housing, and health care, she argued, are “clearly ones of life, death, life or limb.”

Last week, Republican Governor Larry Rhoden signed into law legislation that allows people to challenge other voters’ citizenship. A news release from his office stated that this was one of six bills about election integrity. As is the South Dakota SAVE Act – Senate Bill 175 – which requires that an individual provides proof of citizenship when registering to vote.

ACLU South Dakota says that SB 175 does require people to have documented proof of citizenship when registering to vote, like a birth certificate or a passport. Samantha Chapman, the ACLU of South Dakota advocacy manager said on the agency website that there is no proof of “widespread voter fraud or evidence of non-citizens voting that justifies imposing burdensome show-your-papers requirement for every eligible voter. Senate Bill 175 places the burden on eligible voters to procure documents that take both time and money to obtain and could prevent thousands of citizens from exercising their fundamental right to vote. Our lawmakers should be doing everything they can to encourage participation from all eligible voters – not making it harder. By vetoing Senate Bill 175, Gov. Rhoden would send a clear message that South Dakota supports voters.”

The ACLU noted that the Kansas voter ID law was recently struck down but not before preventing 31,000 eligible voters from voting.

The Native Rights Fund says all versions of SAVE America Act harm Native Americans. It will force Native voters living in rural or remote areas to travel long distances to register to vote. Applicants who register to vote by mail would have to provide documents in person before the voter registration deadline, eliminating the accessibility and purpose of a mail in voter registration system, as well as voter registration drives using paper forms.

“Government is supposed to regulate the private sector and ensure that there’s a social safety net, and we don’t have that right now,” said Stites Means. “We need a lot more structural and systemic change.”

Advocates describe a steady drip of bills and policy changes that make voting more cumbersome. Some proposals would shorten registration windows or tighten absentee rules. Others play out at the county level, in the form of fewer polling places, limited hours, or inconsistent provision of language assistance.

“All of this is intended to suppress voters, and it is intended to suppress Native American voters, who are a protected class,” said Stites Means. She added that rural residents, people with disabilities, English-as-a-second-language speakers, and young voters are also squarely in the crosshairs. “Putting obstacles in front of them nourishes apathy about voting as well.”

For now, there is still time to get people on the rolls. Under current law, South Dakotans must register 15 days before the primary; organizers note there is “still time to get registered through May,” though Stites Means said that even that deadline has been a target for change.

She said she’s not just looking to Election Day. She said the next decennial census and redistricting cycle in 2030 looms large. “2030—considering that’s the census, that’s redistricting—Native voters need to participate in all of that to try to effectuate some systemic change, or at least be on the record opposing.”

She said a more accurate Native count in 2030 could translate into stronger legal arguments for fairer maps. A generation of young voters who learned how to navigate the system in 2026 might be ready to testify, organize, or even run for office by the time those maps are drawn.

“We know that, if it didn’t matter, why would they try to suppress our vote so much? If our vote doesn’t matter?” one participant asked.

But Native communities aren’t alone. Spearfish native Michael Stracco was one of the many residents who came out on Saturday. He was with his dog Taco who was dressed for the event in a Taco suit. “I wanted to come down and show up and make sure our voices are heard. Showing our right to freely protest and congregate, to protest against Trump and his fascist regime of starting wars and taking people’s rights away. I just wanted to show solidarity and peaceful civil disobedience.”

(Contact Marnie Cook at cookm8715@gmail.com)

The post It’s more than a ballot, voting for some is life or death first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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