Riverton, Wyo. – Despite the election of a tribal member to the Fremont County Commission last week, the American Civil Liberties Union says it will proceed with its lawsuit challenging the county’s system of at-large voting as being unfair to American Indians.
Keja Whiteman, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, finished second to win one of three open seats on the commission.
Laughlin McDonald, head of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, said, “This kind of thing happens. Very frequently you bring a lawsuit and someone (of minority ancestry) will get elected. This doesn’t mean the lawsuit is over by any means.”
McDonald called Whiteman’s election “serendipitous” and said she is very likely the first enrolled tribal candidate to ever sit on the commission. He said a trial date for the lawsuit against the county has been set for Feb. 5.
The ACLU and five American Indian plaintiffs – James Large, Gary Collins, Emma McAdams, Patricia Bergie and Pete Calhoun – brought their suit against the county in October 2005. The lawsuit contends the county system violates the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act.
The suit contends that the at-large method by which commissioners are chosen in the county dilutes the voting strength of American Indians. The lawsuit requests that a judge order the county to set up voting districts, including at least one on the Wind River Reservation.
Fremont County Attorney Ed Newell called Whiteman’s election “a great thing for Fremont County.”
Newell also said Whiteman’s election is proof that the county “isn’t full of racists who vote along racial lines.”
He said he believes Whiteman’s success has weakened the ACLU’s case.
“The entire premise of that lawsuit was an American Indian couldn’t get elected, and this is clear proof that premise is false,” Newell said. “She clearly got support from many Republicans and nonIndians to win like she did. She deserved to get elected, and she did.”
