North Dakota tribes seek new hearing in voting rights case
The Spirit Lake Nation and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa asked the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a ruling that said voters cannot sue under the Voting Rights Act for racial discrimination, according to the Jamestown Sun. The Campaign Legal Center, which represents the tribes, said the court’s earlier decision reversed a 2023 ruling that found North Dakota’s redistricting diluted Native American votes.
The Legislature’s 2021 map placed the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in District 9 and Spirit Lake Nation in District 15. Plaintiffs argued this split Native votes, giving white voters disproportionate power. “We went to court because the map the state passed made it harder for Native voters like me to have a real voice,” said Turtle Mountain voter Wes Davis, as reported by the Jamestown Sun. If the current ruling stands, only the U.S. Department of Justice can bring Voting Rights Act lawsuits in the Eighth Circuit.
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