Three voters in northcentral Montana’s Blaine County have filed a federal lawsuit over the map used for county commissioner districts there.
The plaintiffs, all members of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, claim that map violates the U.S. Constitution’s “one person, one vote” rule which requires districted bodies be divided into districts that are roughly equal in population.
The filing cites numbers from Blaine County which show the Commission's District 1, which is 95-percent Native American to have a population that includes nearly 700 more people than District 2, which is 98-percent non Native American.
District 3, which is nearly evenly split between Native American and non-Native American constituents, contains about 500 fewer people than District 1.
The plaintiffs, who name Blaine County, its Commissioners, the County Clerk and Recorder and the County Elections Manager in their lawsuit are asking the court to order a new map drawn ahead of the 2028 elections.
The current map has been in use since 2013. Attorneys for the plaintiffs say county officials have interpreted an earlier court ruling as a requirement for them to preserve the racial composition on the Commission's districts. They claim uneven population changes have worsened racial disparities.
Yellowstone Public Radio has reached out to the Blaine County Attorney for comment.
