North Dakota Secretary of State Michael Howe has filed an appeal of a federal judge’s ruling requiring the legislature to re-draw voting districts after a lawsuit by two Native American tribes.
U.S. District Judge Peter Welte last week ruled that the 2021 legislative redistricting plan, done in accordance with updated census data, violated the rights of the Turtle Mountain and Spirit Lake tribes because it dilutes their voting strength.
Legislative leaders voiced support for the appeal. Senate Majority Leader David Hogue said that when “far left law firms” come to the state and initiate lawsuits to change policy, “we will fight them every day, all day.”
Welte had given Howe and the Legislature until Dec. 22 to provide a remedy. But the appeal makes a special session unlikely.
In an unrelated lawsuit Monday, a federal appeals court dealt a significant blow to the Voting Rights Act, ruling that private individuals and groups such as the NAACP don’t have the ability to sue under a key section of the Act.
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(Some from AP)
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(Release from ND Senate Majority Leader David Hogue and House Majority Leader Mike Lefor: )
Legislative leadership today came out in support of Secretary of State Michael Howe’s decision to file an appeal of Judge Peter Welte’s ruling requiring the legislature to redraw its redistricting maps after a lawsuit by tribal members.
The newly redistricted maps passed with an overwhelming majority during the 2021 North Dakota Legislative Session with support from both parties (73-18 in the House and 40-7 in the Senate, with only four Democrats voting against it). The maps were drawn specifically to comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and aimed to provide tribal communities with the potential for additional representation. “Drawing up the subdistricts around the state’s two most populous reservations was necessary to avoid illegally diluting the Native American vote. We firmly believed that under the federal law and previous court decisions, we had to do this,” said Rep. Bill Devlin (R-Finley) and the Chairman of the Redistricting Committee. The tribal proposal to connect two reservations 60 miles apart into one district was similar to maps previously struck down for intentional gerrymandering.
“We were honestly surprised by Judge Welte’s ruling,” said House Majority Leader Mike Lefor (R-Dickinson), “we worked diligently for months to come up with a plan which was supported by both parties and carefully crafted to ensure fair representation for our tribal communities.” The proposed map passed the Redistricting Committee 15-1. At the time, Rep. Ruth Buffalo, a Fargo Democrat and a citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, advocated for the subdistricts, which she said would help the reservation elect more reflective political representation.
While seeking counsel on the issue, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a decision changing the landscape. Yesterday, a three-panel appellate court voted 2-1 to uphold a lower court decision out of the District of Arkansas which ruled Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is not privately enforceable. Thus, only the federal government, not private citizens, have the right to challenge voting maps. The ruling suggests that enforcement of the Voting Rights Act should be handled by politically accountable officials and not outside interest groups.
“The people of North Dakota expect that public policy will be made by their elected representatives, yet we know that far left law firms, often disguised as public spirited, not-for-profit organizations, will come to North Dakota and initiate lawsuits to change that policy. When they attempt to impose their agenda on the people of North Dakota by starting lawsuits, we will fight them every day, all day,” said Senate Majority Leader David Hogue (R-Minot).
The 8th Circuit ruling, if upheld, could cause the tribal lawsuit to be dismissed and require the federal government to intervene for any challenges to the district map.