The Alaska Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in a challenge to districts outlined by the Alaska Redistricting Board last year. Attorneys for the Redistricting Board are appealing part of a lower court judge’s ruling that rejected the lines for districts 1, 2, 37 and 38.
Arguments today centered on Alaska Native voting rights in light of the federal Voting Rights Act and implications to the Alaska Constitution. Attorney Mike Wallarai represented plaintiffs from Ester and Goldstream, who are fighting being included in a Yukon River district.
Michael White, arguing for the state Redistricting Board, said the Board’s charge to ensure proportional voter representation was difficult in light of Alaska Native migration to urban areas in recent years
The Justices took the matter under advisement.
A decision in the case could come in about ten days. By law, a decision is due sixty days before the filing deadline for candidates.
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APTI Reporter-Producer Ellen Lockyer started her radio career in the late 1980s, after a stint at bush Alaska weekly newspapers, the Copper Valley Views and the Cordova Times. When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez Public Radio station KCHU needed a reporter, and Ellen picked up the microphone.
Since then, she has literally traveled the length of the state, from Attu to Eagle and from Barrow to Juneau, covering Alaska stories on the ground for the AK show, Alaska News Nightly, the Alaska Morning News and for Anchorage public radio station, KSKA
elockyer (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8446 | About Ellen
