North Dakota faces redistricting lawsuit filed by Native American tribes

Two of North Dakota’s Native American tribes hope new legal action will compel the state to reconsider political boundaries approved last year. Despite some progress, their advocates say the new maps still dilute the voting rights of tribal members.

In a federal lawsuit filed last week, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and the Spirit Lake Tribe said the maps violate the Voting Rights Act. In redistricting, lawmakers were urged to approve split House districts so tribes can elect candidates of their choice. But Michael Carter, a staff attorney with the Native American Rights Fund, said that in the two sets of sub-districts that were created, one leaves Turtle Mountain in a bind.

“That packs the entire reservation into a single sub-district, rather than providing the tribal members in that area the opportunity to elect two state House representatives,” he said, “but instead, this new map only allows them to elect one.”

The people left out of that new sub-district have claimed their voting power will be overwhelmed by the white population. At the same time, the Spirit Lake Tribe, which wanted to be part of a joint district alongside Turtle Mountain, saw its request denied. The North Dakota secretary of state, a defendant in the case, hasn’t responded to a request for comment.

Read more: https://www.minotdailynews.com/news/local-news/2022/02/nd-faces-redistricting-lawsuit-filed-by-native-american-tribes/