2010

Empowering the Native Vote in Nevada’s 2010 Midterm Election

The Problem

Lower turnout so often mars midterm elections – and with a competitive U.S. Senate election in Nevada in 2010, the growing Native vote could make a vital difference again. Would the Native vote tip the balance for Nevada in 2010 as it did for South Dakota in 2002?

The Solution

Four Directions was brought in at the request of the Intertribal Council of Nevada, the intertribal organization representing the 27 Tribes in Nevada, to run two Native GOTV efforts: a Tribal- only reservation program in which we were the sole group operating in Indian Country and a Las Vegas operation in which we partnered with America Votes.

Las Vegas Operation

Four Directions had already leased a GOTV staging area in a diverse community of Native Americans, Latinos, and African American voters that ended up being used as the GOTV headquarters. The Las Vegas operation was a canvassing operation that focused on contacting voters at their home, encouraging them to vote and if not home, leaving GOTV literature. These households were contacted as many as five times in the 10 days leading up the election.

Result

The Four Directions program provided a strong increase in voting performance as illustrated on the next page. If the other 40 percent of the data is similar, along with precincts diluted with non-Native voters, it would mean that even outside of the efforts in Las Vegas, the program resulted in roughly 1,200 additional Native voters in the identified precincts – and likely more than 2,000 extra Native voters program-wide within the reservation-only segment.

Election results Nevada 2010

Community	County	Precinct	Avg. Turnout	2010	% Increase
Washoe/Carson Colony	Carson City	409	880	906	2.95
Washoe/Stewart Community	Carson City	407	666	748	12.40
Washoe/Dresslerville	Douglas	12	64	81	27.56
Pyramid Lake	Washoe	7412	233	274	17.85
Pyramid Lake	Washoe	7409	71	97	36.62
Pyramid Lake	Washoe	7423	50	71	43.43
Reno Sparks	Washoe	7300	67	101	50.75
Duck Water	Nye	3	31	36	16.13
Duck Valley	Elko	10	466	523	12.35
Walker River	Mineral	11	189	226	19.58
Fallon	Churchill	9	323	381	18.14
Te-Moak – Elko Colony	Elko	12	547	669	22.30
Te-Moak – South Forks	Elko	27	209	236	13.19
Te-Moak – Wells Colony	Elko	18	167	200	19.76
Te-Moak – Wells Colony	Elko	19	205	210	2.69
Fort McDermitt	Humboldt	10	108	115	6.98
Winnemucca	Humboldt	3	322	448	39.13
Summit Lake	Humboldt	8	82	82	0.61
		Average	4,675	5,404	15.59