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The Chippewa Cree Tribe and two of its members filed a lawsuit against Chouteau County last week alleging that the way the county conducts its commission elections violates Native Americans' voting rights by diluting their votes among white electors.

Montana's county commissioners must reside in a certain district of the county, but they are all elected on an at-large basis, meaning they are elected by voters across the county, not just the ones in their district. The plaintiffs and their attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Montana and the Native American Rights Fund allege that this system "dilutes the Native American vote" and therefore violates the U.S. Voting Rights Act.

The Chouteau County commissioners and the county's clerk and recorder ar

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