A diversity crisis is causing a major political crisis in North Dakota. Native Tribes in the state are agitating for inclusion in the state’s politics.
There are two native American tribes involved in the ongoing tussle. The Spirit Lake Tribe and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of State and Legislature of North Dakota.
In the lawsuit filed early last year, the two Tribes insisted that the state’s Legislative maps disenfranchised the people of those tribes. So, the prayer of the lawsuit is to make the state Legislature adopt alternative maps. Hopefully, that will help enforce the Voting Act Right for native Tribes in the state.
The two tribes, whose representatives are plaintiffs in the case, took the lawsuit for hearing before US District Chief Judge Peter Welte. After examining the case file and the 2021 redistributing map, Welte ruled in favor of the natives.
Judge Welte points out that the map violates the rights of native voters to elect a preferred candidate. To this end, on Nov. 17, Welte gave a Dec. 22 deadline for the Secretary of State and the state Legislature to rectify the issue.
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The legal implication of that ruling is that the state of North Dakota may be compelled to adopt the plaintiffs’ new map of legislative districts. Naturally, no state legislature would stand by and allow two native tribes to impose a redesign of the state map on them.
So, the Secretary of State of North Dakota, Michael Howe, appealed the District Court ruling. A few days after Judge Welte’s ruling, Howe approached the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals to obtain a stay of action. Unfortunately, the federal appeals court dismissed his case and upheld Judge Welte’s ruling.
So far, the Dec. 22 deadline stands, and whatever happens after that will determine if the new maps will be adopted going forward. However, some legal analysts think the state’s predominantly GOP Legislature may decide to wade into the case. That is, even after the ruling of the court.
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Mike Lefor, the Republican majority house leader, made a statement on the ongoing lawsuit. He explained that the Dec. 22 deadline is too short for the Legislature to come up with a new redistricting map for the state.
It is also important to know that before the initial lawsuit, the two tribes had proposed a single legislative district for their two historical reservations. However, the state Legislature declined the proposal, citing that the proposal was not feasible.
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They pointed out that the two native reservations are 60 miles apart. So, creating a single district for them will make it disproportionate compared to other districts.
The Legislature’s redistricting committee has met once as part of their effort to create the new district maps. So, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs and the North Dakota Attorney General are awaiting the outcome of the deadline. All the parties involved hope the two tribes will get a district that restores their Voting Act Rights.
Likewise, the Legislature is trying to avoid a scenario where the district allocated to the native reservations is sparsely populated.
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