Judge: North Dakota’s redistricting violates federal law for Native American voters

By JACK DURA
Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal judge in North Dakota has ruled that the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature violated the Voting Rights Act in how it reapportioned legislative districts comprising two tribal nations. The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and the Spirit Lake Tribe sued last year, alleging the 2021 redistricting map “packs” Turtle Mountain members into one House district and leaves Spirit Lake out of a majority-Native district. U.S. District Chief Judge Peter Welte issued his ruling Friday, giving the Legislature until Dec. 22 “to adopt a plan to remedy the violation.”