BISMARCK, N.D. — A federal judge ordered a new joint North Dakota legislative district for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and Spirit Lake Tribe, which claimed a 2021 redistricting plan violated the Voting Rights Act and diluted the tribes’ voting strength.
U.S. District Judge Peter Welte, a Donald Trump appointee, gave North Dakota Secretary of State Michael Howe and the Legislature until Dec. 22, 2023, to come up with a new map which solved the violation. That deadline passed with no new map.
“The secretary was provided a reasonable time, until Dec. 22, 2023, to propose a remedial plan,” Welte wrote. “But if the Secretary elects to not offer a proposed remedial plan, as is the case here, then it becomes the ‘unwelcome obligation of the federal court’ to devise a remedy. And that is where we find ourselves now.”
Howe and the GOP-led legislature filed for additional time to remedy the violation after a November ruling which determined that the redistricted map “prevents Native American voters from having an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice.”
In the brief three-page ruling, Welte said ordering the new district was “the least intrusive option that complies with the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution,“ as it requires changes to only three districts.
The current redistricting plan split the state into 47 districts and was based on the most recent census data. The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa took issue with two subdivided House districts around the Turtle Mountain Reservation and the Fort Berthold Reservation, which became districts 9A and 9B. The tribe then filed suit against the secretary of state in February 2022.
The Spirit Lake Tribe tagged on to the Turtle Mountain in its lawsuit, claiming the plan stacked its tribal nation into District 15, a “majority-white district.”
After the change is made, the amended voting districts will take effect in time for the November 2024 election.
The office of the North Dakota Secretary of State said in an email that it will use Welte's ordered map for the upcoming election.
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