"As painful as it would have been, Gov. Mike Rounds and Attorney General Larry Long should have rejected any ideas of appealing a voting rights decision that favored Native Americans and simply set the Legislature to work redrawing district boundaries.

U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier ruled that when legislators redrew the state's 35 legislative districts to reflect the 2000 census, they "illegally diluted" Native Americans' rights with the boundaries of Districts 26 and 27, which include the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations.

Native Americans were disenfranchised. State officials just should have accepted that decision and worked to correct it."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Voting rights appeal delays justice (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 9/28)

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