Students and a professor from University of Colorado Boulder collaborated with members of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe to create a video describing the state’s mail-in voting process leading up to the Nov. 8 election.
The Towaoc polling station closed in 2013 when Colorado began mail-in voting. Concerned with how this might impact voter turnout, tribal members partnered with CU Boulder law professor Carla Fredericks and law students to create a 15-minute video webinar about mail-in voting that is available to the reservation’s 1,087 residents and the 640 registered voters.
“We were not asked about the value of the polling place in the community,” said Bernadette Cuthair, the tribe’s community services director. “People used to go to the polling place, and staff would explain the process at the polling place, and we are lacking that now.”
Peter Ortego, the tribe’s general counsel, said its closure was not well communicated.
“I think this will come as a surprise to many tribal members, not to mention people throughout the county,” Ortego said.
Fredericks and students Derik Goatson, Johanna Kron and Julia LaManna came up with the idea of the webinar.
“Native Americans don’t vote as much as the rest of the population,” Fredericks said. “If they aren’t voting in the national election, that’s problematic.”
Cuthair said tribal officials have stressed the importance of this election and the impact Native votes will have over the last six months. Still, some are in the dark on how the process works, she said.
Cuthair said she hopes to see a ballot drop-off location in Towaoc.
The webinar explains how to register to vote, provides voting and mailing instructions, and identifies the closest polling places and who to contact with questions. The students also worked with Native Vote and Common Cause – nonpartisan groups focused on voter awareness – to create the video and a brochure.
The project was funded through an Outreach Award, which supports programs that connect research, teaching and creative work with public needs in ways that impact communities.
“Anytime we can get a young group of people from the reservation together with people outside the reservation to impact native people, that’s powerful,” Cuthair said.
Journal reporter Jacob Klopfenstein contributed to this story.
