Last week in South Dakota, tribal leaders of the Oglala Sioux Tribe were facing voter disenfranchisement and challenged a similar decision by Shannon County. The U.S. Department of Justice had begun reviewing the incident.

After seeking early voting, the Tribe was left with no election official to run the General Election. Shannon County, Fall River County, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe have come to an agreement. Beginning September 28, 2010, Shannon County's Lakota Language Program office in Pine Ridge, S.D., will allow county voters to cast early ballots for the upcoming general elections. For a county where American Indians and Alaska Natives account for 95% of the population, this victory is huge. Four Directions, a nonpartisan voting rights group and partner of NCAI's Native Vote initiative, has agreed to contribute $5,000 to offset the cost of early voting.

Read the article in the Rapid City Journal, Shannon officials and commissioners reach accord; early voting star...