Court Orders North Dakota to Restore Native Voting Power Without Delay

A North Dakota court has affirmed the voting rights of the state's Native Americans yesterday.

After North Dakota elected officials failed to redraw state electoral maps to ensure Native Americans are not denied a fair opportunity to elect state legislators, the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota ordered fair maps into place that will end the unlawful dilution of votes cast by Native Americans. In the same order, the court also denied the North Dakota Legislature's latest attempts to delay implementation of new state legislative maps.

The order was issued as part of a case challenging the North Dakota Legislature's 2021 redistricting plan filed by the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, the Spirit Lake Tribe and Tribal members from both Tribes. The new court-ordered map is the same redistricting plan proposed by the Tribes to the Legislature during the 2021 redistricting process, which the Legislature refused to adopt.

https://nativenewsonline.net/sovereignty/court-orders-north-dakota-to-restore-native-voting-power-without-delay