Two Native American nations are suing North Dakota for alleged redistricting by Republican legislators that dilutes their voices and violates the Voting Rights Act.
The state legislature, which is controlled in part by Republicans, approved new maps. GOP Gov. Doug Burgum signed the maps into law shortly afterward.
In their lawsuit Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and the Spirit Lake Tribe say thatThe state was supposed to redraw the maps after the decennial Census to allow Indigenous voters the opportunity to select their candidates for the state House of Representatives. Instead, state lawmakers will divide districts or move voters into different districts, allowing white voters to have a greater impact on state politics.
North Dakota’s House districts elect two people to represent them in Bismarck. Under new rules concocted last fallHowever, some districts will be divided into two subdistricts so that voters in each section can choose one of the two members.
Michael Carter, a staff lawyer with the Native American Rights Fund alleges that the two subdistricts were created in District 9, where members from the Turtle Mountain Band live. packs Indigenous voters into one of the subdistrictsHowever, it spreads many Indigenous voters to other districts, thereby diluting their voice in the state House. Instead of having influence over the selection of the two House members for District 9, the subdistricting makes it so that they’ll likely only have influence over the selection of one member, while the other House member for District 9 will likely be picked by a majority-white population.
The maps pack “the entire reservation into a single subdistrict, rather than providing the tribal members in that area the opportunity to elect two state House representatives,” Carter said.
Spirit Lake voters are also being moved to District 15, further diluting their voices in a majority-white area.
“North Dakota created a map that guarantees voters living on these two tribal reservations face a no-win scenario before each election even begins,” said Zachary KingThe Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa filed a lawsuit against a plaintiff named as.
“With each election, you hope your vote makes a positive change. Yet our state officials chose to create and approve an election map that robs Native American voters of that opportunity,” added plaintiff Collette BrownSpirit Lake Tribe
Voters from both Indigenous countries tend to vote for Democratic candidates more than Republican ones. They tend to choose Republicans because they are closer to the majority-white areas.
According to the lawsuit, the new areas violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which disallows “voting practices or procedures” that discriminate on the basis of race.
“Our voice is going to be muffled once again. It’s getting a little sickening, tell you the truth,” said Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa chairman Jamie AzureTalk to The GuardianLearn more about the subject.
