U.S. Supreme Court Decides North Dakota Legislative District Map to Remain in Place For Now

(Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – The U.S. Supreme Court put a temporary freeze on North Dakota’s legislative district map, keeping it in place pending next steps in a tribal voting rights case against the state.

The move came before the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals was expected to issue a mandate officially reversing a North Dakota federal judge’s decision and ordering the lawsuit to be dismissed. That would have resulted in North Dakota reverting back to a previous district map that two tribal nations and a group of tribal citizens took the state to court to change.

The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Spirit Lake Nation and three tribal members filed the lawsuit in 2022, alleging that North Dakota’s 2021 redistricting map was discriminatory and diluted the power of Indigenous voters.

North Dakota U.S. District Court Judge Peter Welte in 2023 sided with the plaintiffs and ordered the state to adopt a different map, but the 8th Circuit reversed his decision in May. The appellate court ruled that private citizens cannot file lawsuits under Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act, which outlaws racially discriminatory voting practices.