CASE SUMMARY

On December 10, 2021, an Alaska Native Regional Corporation and two Alaska voters filed a state lawsuit against the Alaska Redistricting Board challenging the Board’s adopted legislative plan as violating the U.S. and Alaska Constitutions and the federal Voting Rights Act (“VRA”). Petitioners alleged certain House and Senate districts violated the Alaska Constitution’s redistricting criteria, including respect for local government boundaries and integrated socio-economic areas, and diluted the voting strength of Calista’s Alaska Native population in violation of the U.S. and Alaska Constitutions’ Equal Protection Clauses and § 2 of the VRA. They sought a judicial declaration the plan was unconstitutional and unlawful and a court order remanding the plan back to the Board for correction of the violations.

  • On December 14, 2021, the Superior Court consolidated this case with four other pending challenges to Alaska’s legislative plan and transferred them to the Alaska Superior Court in Anchorage.
  • On February 15, 2022, the Alaska Superior Court rejected the petitioners’ claims holding the challenged districts all complied with the Alaska Constitution’s redistricting criteria and the plaintiffs failed to produce evidence of intentional discrimination to establish an equal protection violation.

For a complete list of filings in this case, see the litigation page for Matanuska-Susitna Borough v. Alaska Redistricting Board.

Related Cases: Municipality of Skagway Borough v. Alaska Redistricting Board; City of Valdez v. Alaska Redistricting Board; Matanuska-Susitna Borough v. Alaska Redistricting Board; & Wilson v. Alaska Redistricting Board.

CASE LIBRARY

Alaska Superior Court, Third Judicial District at Anchorage - No. 3AN-21-8869CI [formerly in Fourth Judicial District at Bethel - No. 4BE-21-00372CI]