Judge advances ‘motor voter’ lawsuit by Sioux tribes

(CN) — A federal judge ruled Tuesday that two South Dakota Sioux tribes and a voting rights group have standing to bring a lawsuit against the state over claims that state agencies did not offer voter registration services. 

The tribes claim several South Dakota agencies violated the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) — also known as the “Motor Voter Law” — when they failed to update voters’ registration information at the Department of Motor Vehicles and public assistance offices.

Defendants argue the Sioux tribal plaintiffs and the voting rights organization failed to state a claim for relief and moved for dismissal. Bill Clinton appointee U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol denied the request.

“The language of this provision is clear in that ‘all offices in the state that provide public assistance’ must provide the voter registration services described in the NVRA," Piersol wrote. “Plaintiffs have alleged the Department of Labor and Regulation provides such services and there is evidence to support the allegation.”

Two individual Sioux tribal members were later added to the complaint after it was initially filed in September 2020.

Kimberly Dillon claims she was provided no services at the Department of Public Safety and that her registration was not properly submitted by the Department of Social Services. Dillon is joined by Hoksila White Mountain, who claims the state did not provide an opportunity to register to vote when he applied for a driver's license.

Passed in 1993, the federal Motor Voter Law sought to increase the number of eligible citizens who can register to vote in elections for federal office.

Four Directions, Inc., a voting rights and advocacy group, joined the tribes in their lawsuit against South Dakota’s Department of Public Safety, Department of Social Services, and Department of Labor and Regulation. Secretary of State Steve Barnett is also named as a defendant. 

Four Directions' claims were dismissed in February 2021. The voting rights group was replaced in an amended complaint by Lakota People's Law Project when Dillon and White Mountain were added to the list of plaintiffs.

According to the complaint, the secretary of state only updates a voter’s registration record to reflect a new address when the voter takes “affirmative steps” to register to vote or update voting information.

“The South Dakota driver license/ID card application fails to indicate that a change of address for driver’s license purposes will automatically update the address for voter registration purposes unless the customer opts out,” the tribe said in the original complaint. “However, in violation of Section 5 (NVRA), the secretary of state does not consistently use this information to update voter registration records.”  

Barnett's office did not respond for comment on those allegations or on the judge’s denial of the motion to dismiss. 

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