Native Americans' Last-Ditch Effort Fails to Block North Dakota Voter ID Law

A last-minute attempt by tribal leaders to suspend a North Dakota law that requires voters to have a valid ID with a residential street address has failed.

U.S. District Chief Judge Daniel Hovland denied a temporary restraining order filed by the Spirit Lake Sioux and six individuals against Secretary of State Al Jaeger, according to a news release issued Thursday. The 41-page restraining order, which was filed Monday, was meant to suspend the North Dakota voting law that makes ID cards with post office box addresses invalid at the polls.

The ruling comes after the U.S. Supreme Court sided with North Dakota in early October, stating the voter ID law passed by the Legislature in April 2013 was constitutional.

Before the law was enacted, IDs with P.O. boxes were acceptable, but the legislation specifically banned that type of address.

Plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case argued about 18 percent of Native Americans don't have an ID with residential addresses, compared to 11 percent for non-Native voters. North Dakota has about 70,000 voters who do not have a correct ID, Jamie Azure, tribal chairman of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, said in a Washington Post article.

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