Nora Mabie
Montana Free Press

The Chippewa Cree Tribe and two Native American voters filed a lawsuit against Chouteau County and its board of commissioners, alleging the Montana county’s election system dilutes the power of Native voters.

Chouteau County commissioners serve staggered terms and are elected on an “at-large” basis, meaning all voters in the county elect commissioners, regardless of the districts they represent. Located in northcentral Montana, Chouteau County overlaps with the Rocky Boy’s Reservation and its population is about 16 percent Native American, according to census data.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege the at-large system violates the federal Voting Rights Act by “(depriving) Native American voters of a full and equal opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice.” The at-large system, plaintiffs say, “undermines the tribe’s political power.”

“This system allows the white majority in Chouteau County to control the outcome of every commissioner election and prevents Native American voters — who are geographically concentrated in and around the Rocky Boy’s Reservation in the northeast portion of the county — from electing candidates of their choice,” the complaint filed Thursday reads.

Chouteau County Commissioner Chair Clay Riehl did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

The complaint notes that Montana law requires county commissioners to be elected at-large unless a court orders otherwise. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Great Falls, asks a judge to implement a redistricting plan that includes at least one majority-Native voting district.

Tanya Schmockel, a registered voter in Chouteau County and plaintiff in the case, said in a statement that without representation, Native Americans “remain invisible in decisions that affect every part of our lives.”

While tribes are sovereign, state and local governments influence Indian Country. Tribal citizens use county services, like garbage disposal and water systems, and interact with county law enforcement, school systems and other institutions.

The lawsuit isn’t the first in Montana to challenge the at-large voting system. In 1986, several tribal plaintiffs sued Big Horn County challenging at-large elections for the board of commissioners and school board. The case resulted in the redrawing of school board and county commission district lines. In the following election, Big Horn County voters elected the first Native American to the commission.

The Chouteau County lawsuit is the most recent instance of a tribe challenging a Montana election law. In June, a group of tribes in the state alleged that a new election law would disenfranchise Native voters and moved to join a lawsuit challenging it. The group of tribal plaintiffs argued that recent changes to Election Day voter registration disproportionately harm Native Americans in rural and tribal communities.

This story was originally published by Montana Free Press and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.