Judge declines to approve Nebraska voting rights settlement — citing ‘wrench’ in works

LINCOLN — A federal judge on Wednesday declined to approve a settlement of a voting rights lawsuit involving the Omaha and Winnebago tribes, saying a recent appeals court ruling has potentially “thrown a wrench into the works.”

The two tribes, located in northeast Nebraska’s Thurston County, had recently reached a tentative settlement with the Thurston County Board to redraw the voting districts for the seven-member governing board.

The tribe sued the county this year, alleging that the seven county supervisor districts drawn up by the county violated the federal Voting Rights Act by effectively denying Native Americans, who make up a majority of the voting-age population in Thurston County, a majority of the seats on the board.

Appeals court ruling

But U.S. District Judge Richard Rossiter Jr., in an order issued Wednesday, said he could not approve the out-of-court settlement until he heard from the parties’ attorneys about whether the deal was impacted by a recent ruling from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In that ruling, the Appeals Court ruled that Congress did not give “private plaintiffs” the ability to sue to enforce voting rights.

The Thurston County lawsuit was filed by the two tribes, as well as nine members of the Winnebago and Omaha tribal councils.

Rossiter asked attorneys for the tribes and Thurston County to weigh in on the “continued viability” of their settlement and to file supplemental briefs before Dec. 27.

The judge wrote that he would decide whether a hearing or phone conference would be necessary after reviewing the briefs.

Majority in five districts

The initial county supervisor districts drawn up by the Thurston County Board provided a Native majority in only three of seven districts, prompting the lawsuit.

The new map, proposed in the tentative settlement, would give Native Americans a majority of the adult population in five of the seven districts.

The two tribes and the county have clashed before over voting for county offices. In 1979, a court decree required the county to end at-large voting for the Thurston County Board, and to divide the county into seven voting districts, with two having a Native American majority.

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