Washington, July 12—Provided the various states that embrace their reservations will set up the necessary machinery, thousands of Indians will become voters in the coming elections as a result of the Citizenship act passed at the recent session of Congress.
With the passage of the law every native born Indian in the United States automatically became a citizen, Commissioner Burpe recently estimating the number at approximately 125,000. At least one-fourth of this number, it is calculated, are adults and therefore entitled to vote except in states where election laws fix certain qualifications, such as educational, property ownership or payment of poll taxes, that the new Indian citizens may not be able to meet.
However, this condition is believed by authorities on the subject to be only a minor hindrance to the newly enfranchised Indians going to the polls, the chief obstacle mentioned being the lack of organized machinery. Most of the Indians, it is pointed out, live on closed reservations located in unorganized counties where there are no officials to provide the necessary ballots, polling places and other election facilities.
Not only the Indians in the particular circumstances described are prevented from casting their votes, but even white citizens living on the reservations have no such opportunity.
In one or two states, however, this condition is said to have been remedied by counties bordering on Indian reservations permitting the citizens in unorganized jurisdictions to cast their ballots in adjoining counties.
More than 200,000 Indians had been made citizens before the passage of the new citizenship act and a large percentage of these are said to be placed in the similar position of not being able to vote solely because the facilities enabling them to exercise the right are not available.
From the front page of the Concord Daily Tribune, Saturday, July 12, 1924
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