No change expected in S. Dakota Indian voting districts before the Election

Legislative voting districts that a federal judge declared illegal likely will not be changed before next week's general election in South Dakota. U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier ruled on behalf of four Indian voters that the Legislature violated the federal Voting Rights Act by packing Indian voters into a single legislative district on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations in 2001. That diluted the votes of Indians, Schreier said. Instead of constituting an overwhelming majority in District 27, they should have been apportioned as smaller majorities in at least Districts 27 and 26, which would have given them the opportunity to elect more legislators of their choosing. Schreier gave the state 45 days to file a plan fixing the boundaries of the voting districts. That timetable expires at the end of October. Then the plaintiffs will have 30 days to review the state's proposal, and after that, the state has 10 days to respond to the plaintiffs. The decision pushes the dispute past the Nov. 2 election, and although it's legal, it also is curious, according to an election scholar. "As a general rule, it is possible for courts to issue orders that say, 'This is unconstitutional, but we stay the decision.' Technically, if there is no judicial order barring the state from using these (voting districts), it is still an ongoing proceeding," said Ed Foley, director of the Election Law Program at Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law. "Having said all that, I don't know why she didn't structure a timetable that resolves all this before the election," he said. Schreier declined to comment on her decision. [more ]