BISMARCK, ND ( KXNET ) — This year is a year of reflection for Native Americans living in North Dakota — of how far they’ve come and how far they have left to go.

A hundred years ago, Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924, granting citizenship to Native Americans across the United States. But this citizenship didn’t come with one of the most natural rights an American can have — the right to vote.

Fighting for another 20 years for that right, Native Americans look back at this anniversary with mixed emotions because even today, voting as a Native American is still fraught with unseen obstacles.

“There was a 92-year-old man that came through for the first time in his life, his first time voting,” said Nicole Donaghy, the executive director of North Dakota Native Vote. “And when he came out, we asked him, so why is this your first time voting? You know, at his age and he’s like, because nobody’s ever asked me before.”

In 2013, state lawmakers passed the Voter ID law, requiring all voters to have a permanent address when they go to vote. But Donaghy notes that most Native Americans do not have a permanent address, and the law risked disenfranchising nearly 5,000 Native voters in North Dakota.

But it’s not just this law that organizations like Native Vote worry about.

Donaghy says that Native American voters are also limited by the remoteness of most reservations, stifling outreach programs, interactions with candidates, and even access to voting booths. In fact, according to Donaghy, some Native Americans have to travel 90 miles or more to access voting booths.

And even when they arrive at the booths, Native Americans aren’t guaranteed a vote, with poll workers — often unfamiliar with tribal IDs — turning Native voters away because they’re unable to verify them.

That’s why North Dakota Native Vote has launched a whole host of programs for voter education, outreach, and mobilization.

In this way, Donaghy hopes to make American politics more inclusive and break down stereotypes that Native Americans have the same access to voting as other Americans.

“I would love to have a conversation with people that really question whether or not we have these limitations,” said Donaghy. “I would also ask those same people to look at your rural community. Do you have access to your ballot box? Are your grandparents that are in these assisted living facilities, are they able to vote? Do they have access to the ballot?”

To learn more about Native Vote’s programs, click here .

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