Even with the passing of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, Native Americans were still prevented from participating in some elections because the U.S. Constitution permitted states to determine who was allowed to vote in state and local elections. In fact, it took over 40 years for all 50 states to permit Native Americans equitable voting rights. For example, Maine was one of the last states to comply with the Indian Citizenship Act, even though it had granted tax-paying Native Americans the right to vote in its original 1819 state constitution.

Document F

As reported by Henry Mitchell, a Native American canoe maker from the Penobscot Tribe and a resident of the state of Maine, Native Americans were prevented from voting in Maine in the late 1930s:

“Just why the Indians shouldn’t vote is something I can’t understand. One of the Indians went over to Old Town once to see some official in the city hall about voting. I don’t know just what position that official had over there, but he said to the Indian, ‘We don’t want you people over here. You have your own elections over on the island, and if you want to vote, go over there.’”