FORT YATES, N.D. – The North Dakota Secretary of State’s Office addressed efforts to make voting more accessible for tribal members during a meeting Wednesday on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

Secretary of State Michael Howe said his office has a grant to assist tribes with the administrative costs of issuing IDs for voting purposes.

The pot of money for each biennium is $25,000, with each of the five federally-recognized tribes having access to up to $5,000.

This is the second budget cycle the grant has been available, Howe said at a meeting of the Legislature’s Tribal and State Relations Committee at Prairie Knights Casino. During the 2021-2023 biennium, none of the tribes used the money, Howe said. The funding is still available for this biennium.

“In the coming weeks ahead, if a tribe would like to use that $5,000 grant to help the administration of issuing IDs, that money is available to you,” Howe said.

The funding is the result of federal lawsuits that were settled between tribes and the state. Two separate lawsuits from North Dakota tribes challenged the state’s requirement that voters have IDs with street addresses. Addresses on many rural reservations are post office boxes.

A settlement of those lawsuits included reimbursing tribes for the cost of issuing addresses and IDs. The settlement also gave tribes the ability to quickly verify “set-aside” ballots.

The Secretary of State’s Office is looking for contacts from tribal governments to help verify set-aside ballots. Under North Dakota law, a voter cannot be turned away if they show up without valid identification. 

The ballot won’t be counted until their qualifications are verified. They have 13 days to do so after the election.

“What the tribal nations can do is provide a contact, and then the day after Election Day, our office will send that contact a list of individuals who have voted a set-aside ballot who might be residing on a reservation and that tribal nation can then verify the qualifications of that voter,” said Erika White, elections director for the Secretary of State’s Office. 

People who want to serve as contacts should reach out to White at the Secretary of State’s Office by Nov. 1 at 701-328-4146.

Valid forms of identification for voting in North Dakota include a North Dakota driver’s license; a non-driver state-issued identification card; a tribal ID or a tribal letter; and certificate from a long-term care facility.

Alice Bird Horse, a representative at-large for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council, said she’s heard of incidents about poll workers turning away voters with tribal IDs. She asked Howe whether poll workers were specifically trained not to do this.

“I won’t name the specific county that it happened in, but it’s alarming to know that maybe they weren’t trained very well or educated on their duties as a poll worker,” Bird Horse said.

Howe said his office has trained all 53 county auditors about the acceptable forms of identification, who in turn train poll workers.

“We can communicate with every county to reiterate to their poll workers for the November election, nobody should be turned away,” he said.

North Dakota tribes can get help with non-driver ID cards before Election Day

Over the past few days, the Department of Transportation has visited Belcourt, Fort Yates and Fort Totten to issue non-driver IDs on the reservations.

The department is scheduled to visit the Spirit Lake Nation on Thursday at The Blue Building, 816 Third Ave. N., Fort Totten; and the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation on Tuesday at the Northern Lights Wellness Center, 710 East Ave., New Town.

For questions about the photo ID events, call NDDOT at 1-855-633-6835.

For more information about North Dakota voting requirements, go to the Secretary of State’s Office website, vote.ND.gov.

This story was updated to add context of lawsuit settlements related to tribal voting.

(WSAW) – With less than one month until Election Day, the presidential race is a close call in key “Rust Belt swing states” of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Wisconsin: Presidential Race
In Wisconsin, 48 percent of likely voters support Trump, 46 percent support Harris, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver each receive one percent support.

In September, Harris received 48 percent support, Trump received 47 percent support, and Stein received one percent support.

Wisconsin: U.S. Senate Race
Incumbent Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin holds a slight lead over Republican challenger Eric Hovde 50 – 46 percent, essentially unchanged from last month.

Michigan: Presidential Race
In Michigan, 50 percent of likely voters support Trump while 47 percent support Harris, and Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver and independent candidate Cornel West each receive one percent support.

In September, Harris received 50 percent support, Trump received 45 percent support, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein received 2 percent support.

Michigan: U.S. Senate Race
Democratic Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin and former Republican Congressman Mike Rogers share 48 percent support.

Pennsylvania: Presidential Race
In Pennsylvania, 49 percent of likely voters support Vice President Kamala Harris, 46 percent support former President Donald Trump, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver each receive one percent support.

This compares to Quinnipiac University’s September 18 poll when Harris led with 51 percent support, Trump received 45 percent support, and Stein and Oliver each received one percent support.

Pennsylvania: U.S. Senate Race
Incumbent Democratic Senator Bob Casey leads Republican challenger David McCormick 51 – 43 percent, essentially unchanged from last month.

For full polling results, methods, and trends, visit poll.qu.edu.

Copyright 2024 WSAW. All rights reserved.

The Detroit Tigers, having grabbed homefield advantage with a stunning 3-0 victory in Game 2 of the ALDS, look to move within a game of winning the best-of-five series in the first playoff game at Comerica Park in a decade.

Once again, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch played coy with announcing his Game 3 starter; he would only tell reporters on Tuesday that two pitchers were unavailable: left-hander Tarik Skubal, who threw seven scoreless innings in a Game 2 no-decision, and right-hander Reese Olson, who threw five innings in relief in the Tigers’ Game 1 loss.

The Tigers ultimately landed on rookie right-hander Keider Montero to kick things off after he showed he had made some progress in working out some kinks in Game 1, throwing two innings and allowing no runs with three strikeouts in Game 1.

Watch Tigers-Cle on Sling TV

The Guardians, meanwhile, will start 13-year veteran Alex Cobb. The right-hander has a pair of postseason appearances, back in 2013 with the Tampa Bay Rays. More recently, he has made just three starts this season, hampered by injuries. The most recent of which is a blister on the middle finger of his throwing hand, which cost him most of the final month of the season.

The first pitch for Game 3 is at 3:08 p.m. at Comerica Park in Detroit. The game will be televised on TBS and can be streamed on Sling. The Tigers are a slight -115 moneyline favorite, according to BetMGM.

Follow for live updates of Tigers-Guardians Game 3 below.

SHAWN WINDSOR: Unexpected playoff runs are the best kind, and Detroit has had 2 in the last 10 months

Detroit Tigers vs. Cleveland Guardians Game 3 live updates, highlights

∎ Box score.

Game notes and highlights to come.

Detroit Tigers vs. Cleveland Guardians Game 3 pregame reading

TRENDING: Freep’s Tigers beat writer is noticeably absent from coverage. Here’s why.

While Carpenter’s 423-foot blast got all the attention, he wouldn’t have gotten to the plate against Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase if not for shortstop Trey Sweeney reaching base first. Sweeney, of course, came over to the Tigers as a prospect included in the deal that sent right-hander Jack Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers. But the Freep’s Jeff Seidel says the shortstop is anything but a throw-in.

Comerica Park will almost certainly be rocking for its first playoff game since Oct. 5, 2014 — a 2-1 loss to end a sweep by the Baltimore Orioles in the ALDS. The Tigers haven’t won a playoff game at Comerica since Oct. 16, 2013 — a Game 5 win over the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS. But expect a raucous crowd enjoying the kind of playoff run that comes around once in a generation, according to the Freep’s Shawn Windsor.

Well, at least for the Tigers. As the Freep’s Dave Birkett points out this morning, the Tigers’ near-miraculous recovery from a 10-game deficit on Aug. 10 parallels that of the 2022 Lions, who rose from a 1-7 start to barely miss the playoffs and planted the seeds of a squad that won a franchise-record 14 games (including the postseason) last season and is a frontrunner to make its first Super Bowl this season.

Detroit Tigers ALDS Game 3 lineup

1. CF Parker Meadows
2. DH Kerry Carpenter
3. 3B Matt Vierling
4. LF Riley Greene
5. RF Wenceel Pérez
6. 2B Colt Keith
7. 1B Spencer Torkelson
8. SS Trey Sweeney
9. C Jake Rogers

Cleveland Guardians ALDS Game 3 lineup

1. LF Steven Kwan
2. DH Kyle Manzardo
3. 3B José Ramírez
4. 1B Josh Naylor
5. CF Lane Thomas
6. Andrés Giménez
7. RF Will Brennan
8. C Bo Naylor
9. SS Brayan Rocchio

Jake Rogers (C), Dillon Dingler (C), Andy Ibáñez (2B/3B), Colt Keith (2B), Jace Jung (3B), Zach McKinstry (UTIL), Trey Sweeney (SS), Spencer Torkelson (1B), Matt Vierling (3B/OF), Riley Greene (OF), Parker Meadows (CF), Kerry Carpenter (OF/DH), Wenceel Pérez (OF), Justyn-Henry Malloy (DH/OF), Beau Brieske (RHP), Jason Foley (RHP), Sean Guenther (LHP), Brenan Hanifee (RHP), Tyler Holton (LHP), Brant Hurter (LHP), Jackson Jobe (RHP), Ty Madden (RHP), Keider Montero (RHP), Reese Olson (RHP), Tarik Skubal (LHP), Will Vest (RHP).

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