Having the right to vote should be a guaranteed privilege in the United States, but for Native Americans it has been upward battle to be acknowledge as registered voters, and to use their right to vote.

Tribal lands often don’t get the same access to in-person, early voting or election funding as other places do, and it is a complicated process for Native Americans to register to vote, and even then, when they are registered there are many more obstacles with language barriers, factors like location, and tricky state laws that have made voting near impossible for Native Americans.

Despite this Colorado took a huge step forward in the right direction, making history with Senate Bill 276. This bill calls for reforms to the voting process, and will expand voting access to tribal lands. “Gaining U.S. citizenship in 1924 was only one step in a continuous slog toward equal rights for tribes,” said. Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Chairman Manuel Heart. “Since then, it has been moving very slow for Native American tribes across this country,” Heart said. “There was always this conflict with the United States government, whoever was sitting in there. But now, things are changing.”

Expanding automatic voter registration to included tribal membership list, with the help of this bill Colorado would be the first state to recognize Native American tribes and start to finally make the voting process fair and easier for everyone.