Blackfeet/CSKT State Senator on GOP Legislative Map Proposal: “Blatantly Unconstitutional”
Helena, MT – During Tuesday’s Districting and Apportionment Commission hearing, Republican commissioners’ two proposed maps drastically reduce reservation communities’ representation and blatantly break the standards set by the Voting Rights Act and subsequent Supreme Court decisions.
HDP1 proposed by Commissioner Essmann completely wipes out Montana’s majority-minority Senate District representing Rocky Boy, Fort Belknap, and Fort Peck Reservations.
HDP4 proposed by Commissioner Stusek goes even further, cutting apart the Senate seat that includes Blackfeet and Flathead Reservations, as well as eliminating a majority-minority House seat. Between both chambers, this proposal cuts 2 of the 9 majority-minority seats.
Montana’s Legislative redistricting process and final map must comply with the Voting Rights Act and uphold the Montana Constitution. This means ensuring that seats aren’t just majority-minority but also that voters elect Native candidates of choice in a majority of elections already analyzed by independent consultants of the Commission. The Republican maps each eliminate two House Districts that would otherwise elect Native candidates of choice, in addition to the majority-minority Senate District that each map eliminates.
"Both Republican commissioners' map proposals steal representation from Indian Country, and it is outrageous and completely unacceptable. Not only is it an egregious attempt at a partisan gerrymander--it is blatantly unconstitutional,” says Senator Susan Weber, SD 8 - Browning. “Montana's Native communities have a right to equal participation in the political process, and the Republicans' maps run roughshod over that right."
The maps presented today are not the final maps. The redistricting process will continue throughout the year, with each party’s commissioners updating their maps after public comment. However, let’s be clear: one cannot find “compromise” with a map that is illegal and unconstitutional.
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