Of the many findings presented in a recent American
Civil Liberties Union report, which concludes that many Indians face
discriminatory policies and actions that deny them their constitutional right
to vote, poor circumstances facing western tribal citizens tend to stand out.
One of the most shocking cases of disenfranchisement
highlighted in the report, titled “Voting Rights in Indian Country,” centers on Buffalo County in central South Dakota, which, until recently, had a
decades-old plan in place for electing its three-member county commission.
“Despite the fact that 83 percent of its population is
Indian, the plan packed nearly all of them – some 1,500 people in a county of
2,000 inhabitants – into one district,” according to the report.
“Whites, though only 17 percent of the population,
controlled the remaining two districts, and thus controlled the county
government.”
And this wasn’t in ancient times. This was just a few short
years ago.
In 2003, tribal members filed a lawsuit with the help of the
ACLU, in which they alleged that the districting plan inequitably divided its
population for representation and had been drawn to discriminate.
The county ended up admitting its plan was discriminatory
and agreed to submit its future plans to federal supervision.
The situation in Buffalo County is just one of many bad scenarios presented in
the report involving Indian voting rights that have called for legal
intervention.
Interestingly, almost every lawsuit cited was filed on
behalf of Native Americans in western states, namely Colorado, Montana,
Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.
After reading about so many discrimination cases throughout
the region, I grew curious—why? Is the West more likely to discriminate against
Native voting rights? Are Indians there more likely to litigate?
To help answer those questions, I turned to a couple of
Native voting rights experts, including Daniel McCool, a professor of political
science at the University of Utah who co-authored the 2007 book “Native Vote: American
Indians, the Voting Rights Act, and the Right to Vote.”
He explained that there have been many voting rights cases
filed in the old confederacy, but the numbers of African-American and Hispanic
voters dwarf the number of Indian voters there, so that’s where the attention
from advocates tends to be focused.
Not fair, but reality.
McCool also said that protections in the Voters Rights Act
tend to favor situations where Indians are concentrated in a certain area,
which is often the case involving many western reservations.
Again, reality.
He added that cases involving Natives and language
assistance have all been in the West because that is where there are still
significant numbers of Indian people who do not have a mastery of English and
prefer using their own language.
McCool’s explanations tell me that the West is not
necessarily any worse than any other region on Native voting rights—but it is
fertile ground for study. And with study comes attention. And with attention
comes change.
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