Kalle BenallieICT
North Dakota tribes are in the process to re-argue their case of voter discrimination on the state’s legislative map.
It comes after years of fighting in various lower courts, in which the U.S. Supreme Court decided in May to send the case back to the lower courts for reconsideration under a new legal standard.
Attorneys for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, the Spirit Lake Tribe and individual Native American plaintiffs in North Dakota filed the new amended complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota in Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians v. Howe on August 28.
It alleges that North Dakota’s 2021 legislative map unlawfully dilutes Native voting power and violates the U.S. Constitution because it was enacted with discriminatory intent and sorts voters by race without sufficient justification.
“We have been fighting this map for five years, and we already proved at trial that it discriminates against Native voters. The Supreme Court changed the rules, but it did not change the facts. A fair map that follows North Dakota’s own criteria brings our tribes together and gives Native voters a real voice. We proved this map discriminates once, and we will prove it again under the new standard,” Lonna Jackson-Street, chairman of the Spirit Lake Tribe, said in a press release.
On May 18, the U.S. Supreme Court voided the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit’s previous decision that prevented individuals from the ability to enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians v. Howe. The case was also sent back following the Supreme Court’s decision regarding Section 2 in Louisiana v. Callais.
The section states that, “No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision in a manner which results in a denial or abridgment of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.”
The Native American Rights Fund Staff Attorney Lenny Powell, who represents the plaintiffs, said Secretary of State Michael Howe, who is the defendant, has to respond to their motion for leave to amend and they are optimistic that they will be granted leave to amend.
“We think that was the intent of the Supreme Court and the Eighth Circuit when they remanded the case was to give us this opportunity to show that we meet the new standard, and once our complaint is amended, then we go into discovery,” he said.
In late-2023, following a four-day trial, a federal court found that the 2021 North Dakota legislative map deprives Native American voters “an equal opportunity to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice,” in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
The court also noted the stark disparity in Native representation under the challenged map: “[U]nder the 2021 redistricting plan, Native Americans hold zero seats in the Senate and two House seats. Either of the [Tribes’] proposed plans would yield one Senate seat and three House seats.”
Powell said they will be back in the The U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota to ask to update their complaint to show how the new standard applies to their facts.
“…And to show that we still can prove a violation of the Voting Rights Act, because the North Dakota map is discriminatory,” he said.
Powell added the North Dakota Secretary of State acknowledged the map in the last election cycle in 2024 and they expect for it to govern the next election cycle in 2028.
According to NARF, the map made it possible for three tribal members in North Dakota’s District 9 to be elected to the State Senate and House in 2024. Richard Marcellais, Jayme Davis, and Collette Brown joined incumbent Rep. Lisa Finley-DeVille, MHA Nation, in the state legislature.
“North Dakota intentionally packed and cracked Native voters to weaken our political voice. We will show that this is about race, not party politics, and that the state’s own mapmaking rules support a fair district that brings our reservations together. The standard has changed, but the discrimination has not—and we are ready to prove it,” Jamie Azure, chairman of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa, said in a press release.
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