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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2002

A county in Montana plans to challenge a federal judge's ruling that its voting system discriminates against Native Americans, saying the government is to blame.

Blaine County has a large Native population which resides within the boundaries of the Fort Belknap Reservation. The county says this has prevented Natives from electing their own representative to the county commission.

Mountain States Legal Foundation, a Colorado firm which once employed Secretary of Interior Gale Norton, is filing the appeal for the county. Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Rebecca W. Watson was helping the county prior to joining the Bush administration.

In an editorial, The Great Falls Tribune calls for "peace" between the county and Native Americans. The paper says the county shouldn't appeal the case, and while keeping Native voters from the polls probably wasn't an intention, that is the reality.

"There's no room for racial discrimination in the election process," the paper writes.

Get the Story:
Blaine County to appeal judge's ruling (The Great Falls Tribune 3/27)
Editorial: Blaine County should extend olive branch (The Great Falls Tribune 3/27)

Related Stories:
Mont. voting system ruled illegal (3/26)
Interior pick fighting Native voting rights (11/6)
Native voting rights case on trial (10/10)