Chippewa Cree and Chouteau County reach agreement in election lawsuit
The Chippewa Cree of the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation will now have a more direct say in who serves on a local county commission.
On Monday, attorneys representing the tribe and Chouteau County officials reached an agreement in which elections for a county commissioner in a district that encompasses a portion of the Rocky Boy's Reservation will be held through a single-member district election.
Prior to reaching the agreement, elections for the three members of the Chouteau County Board of Commissioners were held at-large. In a lawsuit filed earlier this year, attorneys for the Chippewa Cree Tribe and two Native American voters filed a suit arguing the election system drowned out Indigenous votes in a county where about one in five residents are Native Americans.
“We’re pleased that the county did the right thing in giving the Chippewa Cree Tribe a chance to elect a representative to the Board of Commissioners,” Chippewa Cree Tribe Chairman Harlan Gopher Baker said in statement published Tuesday.
https://www.wvnews.com/news/around_the_web/states/chippewa-cree-and-chouteau-county-reach-agreement-in-election-lawsuit/article_f15991fc-6e84-52db-83cb-ac515a0b3e8a.html