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Tribes sue over election changes
http://www.omaha.com
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - "Members of American Indian tribes said in a lawsuit
that state and county officials have failed to seek approval from federal
judges or the Justice Department for changes to South Dakota election laws.
The suit filed this week said state officials have ignored legal
requirements that they submit for approval all changes to election laws in
Shannon and Todd Counties since November 1972. It said officials have made
roughly 600 changes but sought approval only 10 times.
State election supervisor Chris Nelson told National Public Radio that any
proposed changes in voting regulations are sent to the Justice Department
for review. He later told the Associated Press he could not comment on the
suit because he had not reviewed the allegations.
The plaintiffs, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, want a
judge to bar the state from enforcing any of the roughly 600 changes until
they have been reviewed by the Justice Department or federal judges in
Washington."
©2002 Omaha World-Herald.
Voting-Rights Lawsuit Puts Snag
In South Dakota Senate Election
By JESS BRAVIN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- A voting-rights lawsuit has thrown an unexpected twist
into an election here that might well decide control of the U.S. Senate.
The federal suit, seeking to block enforcement of all South Dakota election
laws enacted since 1975, potentially could lead to a statewide postponement
of the November election if the judge finds severe defects in the laws that
can't be remedied before then. That in turn could delay final determination
of who controls the Senate, where Democrats currently hold a one-seat edge.
Although home to only 0.3% of the U.S. population, the state's Senate race is
considered tight: Incumbent Democrat Tim Johnson is a protege of fellow South
Dakotan and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, while Republican challenger
John Thune, the state's sole congressman, was recruited for the contest by
President Bush.
The American Civil Liberties Union Monday filed a complaint in U.S. District
Court in the state capital of Pierre, contending that South Dakota violated
the 1965 Voting Rights Act by failing to submit more than 600
election-related laws for Justice Department review.
The Justice Department said it is reviewing a South Dakota request for
approval of its election laws, and had no comment on the ACLU suit. A
spokesman for Mr. Johnson said he is studying the suit. The Thune campaign
didn't return calls seeking comment. A spokesman for Mr. Daschle, who isn't
up for re-election this year, said he hopes the dispute "is resolved quickly."
In 1977, the state's then-Attorney General William Janklow, who is now
governor, recommended that the state not submit any proposed changes in
voting laws and regulations for federal approval until a state suit over the
Voting Rights Act was settled.
Earlier this year, a federal judge threw out South Dakota's legislative
redistricting plan for failure to comply with the Voting Rights Act. After
that decision, Secretary of State Joyce Hazeltine said, state officials
realized they needed Justice's approval of their voting laws and had been
attempting to obtain it.
The Voting Rights Act, intended to prohibit bias against minorities in places
where their voting strength has been diluted, had been found to apply to two
impoverished counties heavily populated by Native Americans. Although the
counties' combined population of 21,000 is small amid a state of 757,000,
most of the laws at issue apply statewide. An ACLU attorney, Bryan Sells,
said he hoped to work out an "orderly process" with state and federal
officials to review the laws so the November election can proceed.
Write to Jess Bravin at jess.bravin@wsj.com
Updated August 6, 2002
ACLU suit challenges election laws
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com
Aug. 6, 2002
By Joe Kafka, Associated Press Writer
RAPID CITY -- State and county officials have ignored a federal law that
protects minorities, such as American Indians, from voting discrimination, a
lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union
alleges.
The ACLU filed the lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court in Rapid City on
behalf of officials and members of the Oglala and Rosebud Sioux tribes.
Proposed laws and regulations that have affected voters in Shannon and Todd
counties since Nov. 1, 1972, must be approved by federal officials or judges,
the U.S. attorney general determined in 1976.
The ACLU says South Dakota officials have sought approval of election changes
fewer than 10 times since then. The group's lawsuit challenges about 600 laws
and regulations passed since Nov. 1, 1972.
"The sheer volume of election-related laws at issue in this case makes this
the largest voting-rights lawsuit ever filed," Bryan Sells, an ACLU attorney
said.
South Dakota's secretary of state was told by then-Attorney General Bill
Janklow, who is now governor, not to comply with the Section 5 of the Voting
Rights Act, which requires approval of election law changes in Shannon and
Todd counties either by the Justice Department or U.S. District Court in
Washington, D.C., the ACLU says.
In the 1977 attorney general's opinion, which was requested by then-Secretary
of State Lorna Herseth, Janklow recommended that she not submit any proposed
changes in voting laws and regulations for federal approval until a state
lawsuit over the Voting Rights Act was settled. He also said it would be
premature to submit proposed changes because Congress was then considering
changes in the act.
"Section 5 was enacted so the federal government could ensure that states'
election laws did not discriminate against populations who have experienced a
history of discrimination," Jennifer Ring, executive director of ACLU of the
Dakotas said. "But since 1975, South Dakota has adopted a renegade position
and openly flouted compliance with this important law."
Chris Nelson, state election supervisor, said Monday he was aware of the
lawsuit but would not comment because he had not yet reviewed the allegations
raised by the ACLU.
Nelson, a Republican running against Democrat Kate Looby of Sioux Falls for
secretary of state, had earlier told a reporter for National Public Radio
that South Dakota has not ignored the Voting Rights Act. He said any proposed
changes in voting regulations in Shannon and Todd counties are sent to the
Justice Department for review.
"Essentially ... we have to prove that the election law won't be regressive
so far as the voting rights of the folks in those two counties," Nelson told
NPR. "We've never had any problem getting the
approval."
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1992 that any changes in election laws or
regulations that must be approved under the Voting Rights Act must have a
direct connection to voting. It listed such things as changes in the manner
of voting, in candidacy requirements and qualifications, in the composition
of those who may vote for candidates for certain offices and changes
affecting the creation or abolition of elective offices.
ACLU wants the judge to bar the state from enforcing any of the 600 or so
election laws and regulations until they have been reviewed by the Justice
Department or the federal court in Washington.
Indians in the two counties have been deprived of their voting rights because
of failure to get the changes approved, the lawsuit alleges.
The case was filed on behalf of Shannon County tribal elder Elaine Quick Bear
Quiver, Todd County tribal member Alfred Bone Shirt, Oglala Sioux Tribe Vice
President Teresa Two Bulls and Rosebud Sioux Tribe Vice President Vernon
Schmidt.
"We are a proud people, and all we seek is an opportunity to have a voice,"
said Quick Bear Quiver. "Many members of the Great Sioux Nation do not vote
because they have become so discouraged that they feel their votes won't make
a difference."
Sioux tribal members file voting rights suit
http://www.indianz.com
TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2002
Four members of the Sioux Nation filed suit against South Dakota on Monday,
charging the state with massive violations of Native voting rights.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which has filed a spate of lawsuits for
Sioux tribal members in recent months, said the state has made changes to
more than 600 election laws since 1972 without proper authorization. A
federal judge was asked to intervene -- potentially halting upcoming
primaries -- until the Department of Justice can review how they affect
Native voters.
"We are a proud people and all we seek is an opportunity to have a voice,"
said lead plaintiff Elaine Quick Bear Quiver, a member of the Oglala Lakota
Sioux Tribe.
According to the ACLU, most of the laws do not appear to harm voters in two
predominantly-Native counties. Shannon County is located within the
boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation, home to the Oglala Lakota Tribe,
and has a 94.2 percent Native population. Todd County encompasses the Rosebud
Sioux Reservation, with 85.6 percent of the population being Native.
But at least 12 changes were discriminatory "on their face," the complaint
stated. According to the ACLU, Secretary of State Joyce Hazeltine only sought
approval last Friday.
"The state's last-minute submission is so inadequate that we see it as
another attempt to avoid actual compliance with federal law," said ACLU
attorney Bryan Sells.
The plaintiffs also tied the changes to historic discrimination against Sioux
tribal members. They cited a 1977 opinion by then-attorney general Bill
Janklow which advised the state not to seek federal review as required by the
1965 Voting Rights Act.
Janklow is currently the state's governor. Barred by term limits to seek
re-election, he is running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The defendants in the case include Hazeltine and two state officials.
Hazeltine accused the ACLU of making filing a "totally unnecessary" lawsuit.
"The ACLU knew that my office filed 380 pages of election laws last week on
Thursday with the U.S. Department of Justice for review, yet the ACLU
proceeded to file the suit anyway and to top it off issued a news release
containing a deliberate falsehood claiming we had filed only a one-page
memo," she said.
The plaintiffs include Quick Bear Quiver; Teresa Two Bulls, vice president of
the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe; Vernon Schmidt, vice president of the Rosebud
Sioux Tribe; and Alfred Bone Shirt, a Rosebud tribal member.
The ACLU filed a separate lawsuit against the state for its 2001 legislative
redistricting plan. A federal judge earlier this year ruled that the state
failed to obtain DOJ approval before implementation.
Relevant Documents:
Complaint: Elaine Quick Bear Quiver v. Hazeltine (8/5)
Relevant Links:
South Dakota Secretary of State - http://www.state.sd.us/sos/sos.htm
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