Abstract

When Native Americans are arrested for felonies on most reservations, they are under the legal authority of the federal government and federal sentencing laws. They are subject to a convoluted system of jurisdiction in which they are held and tried off-reservation in federal courts. We ask how federal criminal justice policies have contributed to voting disenfranchisement of Native Americans in Western states. We document the role of federal government policies in the sentencing of Native Americans in Western states with felon disenfranchisement laws. We show that the path to disenfranchisement in these states flows through the federal government, which imposes longer sentences than most states for equivalent crimes. Federal felons are not eligible for parole, a key point when voting rights are restored in most states. The jurisdictional challenges, legal ambiguities, and concerns with voting violations strongly discourage Native felons from voting after their sentences.