North Dakota Tribes Want U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Voting Rights Case

(Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – Two North Dakota Native tribes and a group of tribal citizens plan to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review a court decision that found they don’t have standing to sue the state of North Dakota for alleged voter discrimination.

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in the ruling concluded that private voters have no way of challenging unfair voting practices under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which outlaws voter discrimination based on race.

“That decision is plainly wrong, and it will have a huge impact on Native voters,” Lenny Powell, a Native American Rights Fund attorney representing the plaintiffs, said.

The ruling came in a case involving the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Spirit Lake Nation and three tribal members, who took North Dakota to court over a 2021 redistricting map the tribes say illegally diluted the power of Native voters.