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ROOSEVELT COUNTY, MONTANA TO CHANGE ITS METHOD OF ELECTION

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- A northeast Montana county today agreed to change the way it elects its three-member county commission in order to resolve allegations that its current system discriminates against Native American voters, under an agreement reached with the Justice Department.

The agreement, filed along with a complaint in U.S. District in Billings, resolves allegations that the at-large method of voting used to elect the Board of Commissioners in Roosevelt County, Montana violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 because it dilutes the voting strength of the Native American minority in the county. As a result of this agreement, the Roosevelt County Commission will use three single-member voting districts beginning in the June 2000 primary, one of which is over 60% Native-American and two of which are majority-white. Judge Jack D. Shanstrom, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for Montana, approved the agreement today.

"The Voting Rights Act guarantees that all citizens have the right to fully participate in the democratic process," said Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "We feel today's settlement will ensure this right for Roosevelt County's Native American citizens and provide them the opportunity to elect a representative to the Board of Commissioners."

Although Native Americans make up more than 48% of the total population of Roosevelt County, no Native American has ever been elected to the Roosevelt County Commission or to any other county-wide office in Roosevelt County in the 80 year history of the county. After completion of its investigation of the method of election in the county in October 1998, the Justice Department notified Roosevelt County officials that it had determined that the at-large voting system for county commission diluted minority voting strength in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

After informing the county of these findings, the Department engaged in extended negotiations with county officials which led to today's agreement. The single-member voting district plan embodied in today's agreement has been approved by the County Commissioners and the Department, as well as tribal officials at the Fort Peck Reservation, which is located in the county and is the home of members of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes.

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