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No one brings this up, and maybe I'm just ignorant of how the political system works and it's perfectly normal for foreign entities to use "lobbying" to affect laws in sovereign states they are not a member of.

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Perhaps I misunderstand the whole Native American Sovereign Land thing, but as far as I know and can tell, Native American Reservation Land is considered sovereign territory and not bound by the laws of The United States.

Why do these purveyors of probably the most popular gambling establishment in our state have a say in whether or not online poker can be legalized in California, even though polls show a majority of Californian voters are in favor of legalizing online power? For example, in 2020 a coalition of tribes gathered signatures for a ballot initiative.

I understand why they don't want it to be legalized: they lose business. Businesses don't like to lose money and neither do their investors and stock holders, so all companies will do anything they can to maintain and increase profits and prevent decrease. It's the way any business works.

Why do these Native American tribes have a voice in California Online Poker Politics?

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So why then, do these purveyors of probably the most popular gambling establishment in our state have any say in whether or not online poker is legal in California?

Any citizen has a say in the laws of the land. Native Americans are American Citizens: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States#Native_Americans_and_U.S._Citizenship

As for lobbying, I'd say claiming the reservations are 'foreign' is a stretch, but regardless, there's all sorts of precedent for lobbying by foreign interests: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobbying_in_the_United_States#Foreign_lobbying

Perhaps I misunderstand the whole Native American Sovereign Land thing

I think you're confusing the concept of tribal sovereignty with the status of the land the tribes posses (the reservation). Tribal sovereignty refers to the rights of Indian Tribes to self govern within the confines of their land (the reservation). Said land is still within the confines of the United States. It's just that they are allowed to have their own laws as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribal_sovereignty_in_the_United_States

As for your gripe that a majority of the people want something but aren't getting it, alas, that's not how our system always works.

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  • Great Answer! I had this up on another exchange site for months with nothing. Thanks for all the info, I see I was very confused on this issue indeed and you helped clear it up!
    – Tech Savant
    Oct 22, 2015 at 13:57

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