The Department of the Interior today announced adoption of new regulations establishing uniformity in Indian tribal voting matters concerning tribal constitutions, by-laws and constitutional amendments. The regulations apply only to the 76 tribes which were reconstructed pursuant to the Indian Reorganization Act of June 18, 1934, and do not affect the 72 tribes in Oklahoma and Alaska which voted to exclude themselves from application.
The new regulations establish definite procedures for creating voting districts, posting election notices, setting polling hours, preparing voting lists and clarifying voter eligibility.
Indian tribes, bands, and communities generally operate under a tribal organization. The Bureau of Indian Affairs encourages the tribes to develop written constitutions.
The new uniform voting regulations will facilitate revision of tribal constitutions by eliminating the need for approval by the Secretary of voting regulations in each instance of a proposed constitutional change.
The full text of the new regulations is being published in the Federal Register. These regulations were published as proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register on June 26, 1963, and public comments were invited. Several modifications were made in the light of public comments received.
