Whereas American Indians and Alaska Natives have historically been denied the right to vote; Whereas, after serving in World War II and returning home, many American Indian veterans were not able to vote; Whereas, on July 15, 1946, in Harrison v. Laveen, Chief Justice Levi S. Udall of the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that Maricopa County, Arizona, must allow Mohave-Apache Indians to register to vote, overruling decades of precedent in which the State of Arizona prohibited American Indians from voting; Whereas, in holding that American Indians were entitled to the franchise, Chief Justice Udall noted that, [i]n a democracy suffrage is the most basic civil right, since its exercise is the chief means whereby other rights may be safeguarded. To deny the right to vote, where one is legally entitled to do so, is to do violence to the principles of freedom and equality. ; Whereas, in New Mexico in 1948, Miguel Trujillo, a Marine Corps veteran and Isleta Pueblo tribal member, was turned away from registering to vote because he was living on a reservation; Whereas, in 1948, the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico struck down limitations in the State Constitution of New Mexico that prevented those who lived on reservations from voting; Whereas, prior to 1968, American Indians were not provided the same protections as other citizens under the United States Constitution; Whereas, in 1968, Congress passed the Indian Civil Rights Act to ensure that the American Indian is afforded the broad constitutional rights secured to other Americans ; Whereas Alaska was the last State to enfranchise American Indian voters in 1970; Whereas, even though American Indians and Alaska Natives currently have the lawful right to vote across the United States, they continue to face barriers and obstacles to voting; Whereas some American Indians and Alaska Natives in Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, Minnesota, South Dakota, and other States may have to travel 50 to 400 miles to vote