Municipal Insurance Pools and Disenfranchisement in Indian Country.

Dietrich, Joseph; Schroedel, Jean; Mazareas, Kara; Lake, Joseph

Objective: Our objective is to establish the impact of a litigation pattern used by defendants in voting rights cases in Indian Country which relies on municipal insurance pools and the barring of fee recovery. Methods: We use history and case studies from four states to demonstrate the argument. Results: Court is the only option for challenging disenfranchisement of voters, but cases require financial resources often unavailable to Native American plaintiffs. Defendants, typically state and local governments, do not face similar resource constraints as they participate in municipal insurance pools. Defendants, therefore, attempt to raise litigation costs to pressure plaintiffs to dispose of cases. If defendants think they will lose, they settle, preventing plaintiffs from recovering litigation costs or setting a precedent. This form of voting rights infringement discourages others from filing lawsuits as the financial impact can be devastating. Conclusion: We conclude that the states provide a new arena to litigate voting rights cases.

LEGAL costs; INSURANCE; LOCAL elections; NATIVE Americans; SUFFRAGE; STATE governments; DEFENDANTS

Social Science Quarterly (Wiley-Blackwell), 2021, Vol 102, Issue 2, p649

0038-4941

Academic Journal

10.1111/ssqu.12937