On January 13, 2012, members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota against the State of South Dakota, Shannon County, and Fall River County, under §2 and §5 of the Voting Rights Act, the Indian Citizenship Act, 42 U.S.C. §1983, the Declaratory Judgment Act, and state law. The plaintiffs, represented by private counsel, asked the court for both declaratory and injunctive relief. They argued that the lack of early voting in Shannon County, the county where the Oglala Sioux reside and which is populated entirely by Native Americans, violated the plaintiffs' rights.

As of the date of this summary, the case is at the summary judgment stage. Arguments thus far have focused primarily on issues of standing. The defendants moved to dismiss because they have voluntarily agreed to provide early voting in Shannon County through 2018. For this reason, the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction was denied as moot (2012 WL 871262,) but the trial judge (Judge Karen Schrier) ruled against defendants' motion to dismiss the action on October 4, 2012 because of the likelihood of the issue recurring in the future (2012 WL 4748071.) Named defendant Gant, the South Dakota Secretary of State, brought an additional claim to dismiss on 11th Amendment grounds, but the trial judge refused the motion since the case is a properly brought Ex Parte Young suit (2012 WL 4482984.) The matter is ongoing.

Jonathan Forman - 06/04/2013


compress summary