Samantha Blencke is a Senior Staff Attorney with the Native American Rights Fund and Managing Attorney of its Washington, DC, office. Samantha litigates to eliminate obstacles to voting faced by Native Americans and to advance equitable Indian education.
At NARF, she has successfully litigated or settled major victories for Native American voting rights, including a ruling that proof of address requires in Arizona are preempted by the National Voter Registration Act, compliance with the National Voter Registration Act in South Dakota, election day registration in Montana, ballot assistance in Montana and Nevada, ballot receipt extension deadlines in Nevada, and on-reservation polling places in Montana.
She has represented amicus curiae before the United States Supreme Court in advocating for the use of ballot collection and equal access by Native American voters and in defending federal laws that protect voters from gerrymandering.
Outside of the courtroom, she often testifies before state elected bodies on proposed voting bills. She provided testimony and evidence that helped to shape the robust findings and recommendation of South Dakota Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Report on Voting Rights and Access in South Dakota.
She is presently focused on redistricting, in a major, first-of-its-kind project in Indian Country consisting of public education, developing redistricting proposals, and litigation, all with the goal of removing barriers to voting in Indian communities. She is currently representing the Chippewa Cree Tribe and individual voters in Chippewa Cree v. Chouteau County to challenge at-large county commission elections that dilute the Native vote in violation of the Voting Rights Act. Through litigation or settlement, she also helped increase representation in Indian County with fair maps in Lyman County, South Dakota; Benson County, North Dakota; northeastern North Dakota; western North Dakota; and Thurston County, Nebraska.
In addition to litigation, she is a member of the Native American Voting Rights Coalition, a nationwide alliance of advocates, lawyers, academics, and tribal representatives that addresses Native American voting issues nationwide.
In the education realm, Samantha currently represents six Tribes, as well as individual parents, guardians, and students to compel fulfillment of a constitutional mandate to teach public school students the history and culture of the first peoples of Montana. She co-authored an amici curiae brief to the Ninth Circuit in a case of first impression regarding the legal obligations of the United States to educate K-12 tribal students.
Samantha started her career at DNA-People’s Legal Services representing low income clients in public interest matters, after which she was in private practice for more than15 years representing tribal schools and other tribal entities in employment, administrative litigation defense, and other general counsel services.
Education
- South Texas College of Law, J.D.
- Dean’s Merit Scholarship
- University of New Mexico School of Law, visiting student, honor roll
- Louisiana State University, B.A. English
Admissions to Practice
- United States Supreme Court
- United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
- United States District Court for the District of Arizona
- United States Tax Court
- Arizona
- Texas
Download a high resolution headshot of Samantha Blencke here.
