In an effort to encourage more people to exercise their civic rights, North Dakota Native Vote has partnered with the RE-AMP Network to host a series of three online training workshops for volunteers interested in helping get out the vote.

Although the emphasis is on the Native American population, the workshops are open to anyone.

The first workshop will be a storytelling training, focusing on how to craft a personal story about why voting is important and about the issues people care about. People will come out of the training prepared to tell compelling stories to get others involved in voting. The workshop is scheduled for July 20 from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

The second workshop on communications is designed to give leaders and volunteers the tools they need to create engaging and effective traditional and social media pieces to educate community members about the importance of voting and civic engagement. It will be held Aug. 3 from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

The final workshop is called “Virtual Canvass.” The most effective way to increase the number of people who vote is for them to hear directly from someone they know about why it is important. The workshop will provide participants with training to reach people in their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The workshop will be held Aug. 17 from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

“Our hope is to get people talking and thinking about the election,” said Nicole Donaghy, executive director for ND Native Vote. “We want people on the reservations to know they are part of this process too, so let’s be engaged.”

Donaghy said a 2015 legislative requirement for a physical address as part of voter identification had created a concern for Native and other rural voters whose homes were outside a formal addressing system.

“In 2018, Native Vote started working on education so that people’s IDs were up to date and had the correct information so they could vote,” she said. “That really impacted the vote that year because of the work we did.”

The Native vote for a mid-term election doubled that year, she said.

For workshop registration information, contact info.ndnativevote.org.

In addition to promoting voting and civic engagement, ND Native Vote works to educate and mobilize reservation communities on the importance of engaging in the 2020 Census, to recruit, train and endorse Native American candidates for office and increase participation in civic work on reservations through trainings and leadership opportunities. The organization advocates for policies on voting rights, victim’s rights, upholding treaties, food and energy sovereignty and North Dakota legislative issues.

The workshops will be held on the Zoom platform by RE-AMP Network, a network of more than 130 organizations across the Midwest working to equitably eliminate greenhouse gases.