The North Dakota Secretary of State’s office took a step to make sure Native Americans’ votes are counted.

A request for emergency rulemaking to adopt Chapter 72-06-03 of the North Dakota Administrative Code related to tribal IDs for Native American voters was approved.

An official notice from Gov. Doug Burgum’s office was delivered to the Secretary of State’s Office on Wednesday.

According to a press release from the Secretary of State’s office, the new rules address several areas, including: the documentation that constitutes a tribal ID; the opportunity for data sharing from tribal offices to the Secretary of State for inclusion in the Central Voter File; the creation of a form that may be utilized by tribal governments to provide supplemental documentation to a tribal member; and an expedited method in which set-aside ballots marked by tribal members may be verified by a tribe so that the ballots may be included in the final vote tally.

Here are letters from two of North Dakota’s tribes thanking the state for its continuous work on this issue, and looking forward to implementing these new rules for successful elections.