North Dakota
Letter: Judge Welte was right to side with ND tribes
Thank goodness U.S. District Court Chief Judge Peter Welte decided to fix North Dakota’s violation of the Voting Rights Act. The remedy will give voters from the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and the Spirit Lake Nation a fairer opportunity to elect representatives of their choice to the North Dakota Legislative Assembly.
It’s been a long road to get here. During the 2021 North Dakota Legislature’s special session for redistricting, the two tribes came to the Legislature to recommend district boundaries for their area. The tribes had their proposal verified as meeting criteria of the Voting Rights Act, but it was rejected by the Legislature’s redistricting committee, who then approved a plan that very likely would violate the law.
During deliberations in 2021, legislators struggled over creating single member House districts as a way to bring those elected closer to local voters. Lawmakers found many reasons to say they were a bad idea. However, when the Legislature ended up approving subdistricts for Fort Berthold and Turtle Mountain reservations, members of the majority party changed their minds and sued, claiming subdistricts gave Native Americans an unfair advantage. The court ruled the subdistricts were fine. South Dakota has had several reservation subdistricts for a couple decades.
While the Legislature’s district boundaries improved election fairness for Three Affiliated Tribes, the boundary changes made it harder for Turtle Mountain and Spirit Lake voters. They took it to court and made a well-researched, strong case that the Legislature’s 2021 redistricting plan violated the Voting Rights Act by “unlawfully diluting the voting strength of Native American voters who live on and around” the two reservations. Welte agreed.
Since the court decision, North Dakota legislators, the secretary of state, and attorney general have struggled. Rather than dealing straight-on with the issue, current North Dakota leaders wanted to sidestep in an appeal using a legal technicality from a recent outlier decision by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
I watched a lot of the legislative hearings and floor debates. Even those who spoke in favor of complying with the Voting Rights Act usually added “I don’t like it, but it’s the law…”
Current state leaders have 90% of the legislative seats and 100% of statewide elected offices, yet they fight so hard to not do the right thing. North Dakota’s current leaders are evidence that the Voting Rights Act – along with strong citizen efforts – is still very much needed to ensure that voting rights are adhered to.
Hopefully, it won’t be so difficult next time.
Don Morrison lives in Bismarck.
WEST FARGO — Three incumbents from West Fargo will run for reelection to their state legislative seats.
North Dakota Sen. Judy Lee and Reps. Jim Jonas and Austen Schauer, all Republicans, announced Sunday, Dec. 14, that they would campaign to represent District 13 in the state Legislature. The district covers much of north West Fargo.
Special to The Forum
Lee was first elected to the North Dakota Senate in 1994. Jonas and Schauer have served in the state House since 2023 and 2019, respectively.
The three ran unopposed in the 2022 election. The next election for their seats is in 2026.
Forum file photo
Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.
WATFORD CITY, N.D. (KUMV) – The North Dakota Department of Transportation awarded more than 150 million dollars in bids to continue expanding highway 85 south of Watford City.
More than $83.8 million will go to Park Construction out of Minneapolis for one segment. It covers about five and a half miles south of the Long X Bridge, going through another section of the badlands. It’s expected to be a three-year project due to the rough terrain.
The next segment covers 12 and a half miles south from the badlands to the highway 200 intersection. The winning bid went to Strata out of Grand Forks for $61.7 million. It will be a two-year project.
Funding for these projects were provided by both the state and federal government.
Copyright 2025 KFYR. All rights reserved.
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — Isaiah Griffin had 18 points in Western Illinois’ 69-66 overtime win against North Dakota on…
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — Isaiah Griffin had 18 points in Western Illinois’ 69-66 overtime win against North Dakota on Saturday.
Griffin had three steals for the Leathernecks (4-7). Karyiek Dixon scored 17 points while shooting 6 of 10 from the field and 5 for 6 from the line and added 18 rebounds. Lucas Lorenzen shot 3 for 13 (1 for 9 from 3-point range) and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line to finish with 14 points.
Eli King led the way for the Fightin’ Hawks (4-9) with 13 points, two steals and four blocks. Greyson Uelmen added 13 points for North Dakota. Garrett Anderson had 11 points and six rebounds.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Copyright
© 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
Lions no longer control own destiny to postseason after loss to Rams
San Francisco honors legendary photographer Jim Marshall with street named in his memory
Dallas Wings’ Paige Bueckers is just getting started
Free December events in Boston: Hanukkah celebrations, new play readings, and more – The Boston Globe
Where do Packers stand in NFC playoff picture after loss in Denver?
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Bill and Hillary Clinton’s Stance on Epstein Testimony Nov. 3
Small Business Administration unveils new initiative to roll back federal regulations
Analysis: Trump’s policies set to widen EU-US innovation gap
With federal relief on the horizon, Black farmers worry it won’t come soon enough
Trump’s election win filled Hamas with ‘fear,’ hostage held like ‘slave’ for 505 days recounts
-
Alaska1 week agoHowling Mat-Su winds leave thousands without power
-
Texas1 week agoTexas Tech football vs BYU live updates, start time, TV channel for Big 12 title
-
Washington6 days agoLIVE UPDATES: Mudslide, road closures across Western Washington
-
Iowa1 week agoMatt Campbell reportedly bringing longtime Iowa State staffer to Penn State as 1st hire
-
Miami, FL1 week agoUrban Meyer, Brady Quinn get in heated exchange during Alabama, Notre Dame, Miami CFP discussion
-
Iowa2 days agoHow much snow did Iowa get? See Iowa’s latest snowfall totals
-
Cleveland, OH1 week agoMan shot, killed at downtown Cleveland nightclub: EMS
-
World1 week ago
Chiefs’ offensive line woes deepen as Wanya Morris exits with knee injury against Texans
