Opinion ID: 770944
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Demographics

Text: 3 American Indians comprise approximately 6% of the total population of the State of Montana, according to the 1990 federal census. But the Indian population is relatively young, and comprises only 4.8% of the state's voting age population. Montana's American Indian population is also growing more quickly than the State's population as a whole. Between 1980 and 1990, the total population of the State increased by 1.6%, but the American Indian population of the state increased by 27.9%. 4 Montana's House of Representatives consists of 100 single member districts. Each member of the House serves for a two-year term. The Montana Senate consists of 50 single member districts; each Senate district is composed of two adjoining House districts. Members of the Senate are elected for four-year terms, with half of the Senate seats up for election every two years. 5 Under the redistricting plan adopted in 1982, Indians comprised a majority of the voting age population in 1 of the 100 House Districts. That district included the Blackfeet Reservation in Glacier County in the northwest part of the state. Indians did not represent a majority of the voting age population in any of the 50 Senate districts. By 1990, these demographics had changed with the growth of the Indian population. The 1990 census revealed that American Indians comprised a majority of the voting age population in 4 of 100 House districts and 1 of 50 Senate districts.