U.S. Supreme Court to keep North Dakota District Map in Place Until Case Wraps Up

Jamie Azure, chair of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. (Photo provided by Office of the Governor via the North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to a temporary freeze on North Dakota’s legislative district map.

The Supreme Court’s order prevents an appellate court’s judgment in a landmark North Dakota redistricting lawsuit from taking effect until the higher court makes a final decision in the case. The suit, filed in 2022 by the Spirit Lake Nation, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and three tribal citizens, accuses a legislative district map adopted by North Dakota lawmakers in 2021 of unlawfully diluting the power of Native American voters.

The judgment would do two things: make it so that private citizens in the 8th Circuit can’t sue under a law that bans racially discriminatory voting practices, and pave the way for North Dakota’s district lines to revert back to the 2021 map.

Now that the Supreme Court has stepped in, voters in the seven 8th Circuit states will still be able to bring lawsuits under the statute, known as Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, at least until it decides the North Dakota case.