The passage of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in 1965 was the biggest legal milestone for the voting rights of U.S. citizens of color since the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment almost 100 years earlier. While they are not as numerous or as well known as those brought by African Americans, many cases have been brought by Indians alleging discrimination in the electoral process.

We have attempted to identify all voting rights cases brought by or on behalf of Indians under the VRA or the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendment since 1965 or cases brought under the VRA when Indian interests were at stake. Such data facilitate comparisons of Indians' experience with the VRA with that of other minority groups, especially African Americans. We have found many similarities but also some differences.

The exact number is difficult to determine because many cases remain unpublished, but we have identified seventy-four to date. This number includes only cases filed in court and one Department of Justice “notice letter” of authorization to sue – a case that was settled without a complaint being filed. These cases are displayed in Table 3.1 in chronological order of filing. A few striking patterns appear.

Litigation has occurred in fifteen states. The geographical concentration is greater than this number might suggest. All but four cases (two in Wisconsin, one in Maine, and one in North Carolina) have occurred in the Intermountain West (Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming) and the Great Plains states of Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.