Supreme Court sends North Dakota and Mississippi Voting Rights Act cases back to lower courts

Monday, May 18, 2026Rights & JusticeWell-covered4 frames

The Supreme Court sent voting-rights cases from North Dakota and Mississippi back to lower courts for reconsideration.
The court directed the lower courts to reconsider those cases in light of its recent ruling in Louisiana v. Callais.
One issue in the cases is whether private individuals and advocacy groups, rather than only the federal government, can sue to enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
In the North Dakota case, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that only the federal government can sue to enforce Section 2.
The North Dakota case was brought by two Native American tribes and concerns claims that district lines diluted Native American voting strength.
The question of who can sue matters because private plaintiffs and advocacy groups have brought most Section 2 lawsuits, so limits on private suits could narrow enforcement of the law.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from the Supreme Court’s decision to send the cases back rather than resolve the enforcement question.

How left and right are reading this

Both agree: Sending the cases back leaves unresolved who may enforce Section 2, a question with major real-world consequences because most such lawsuits have been brought by private plaintiffs and advocacy groups and limits on those suits could sharply narrow the law’s reach.
They split on: Less a disagreement than a question of emphasis: the immediate risk to Native American and other minority voters if private suits are curtailed, versus the court’s choice to proceed through reconsideration in light of Louisiana v. Callais rather than settle the enforcement question now.

The Supreme Court sent voting-rights cases from North Dakota and Mississippi back to lower courts for reconsideration.
The court directed the lower courts to reconsider those cases in light of its recent ruling in Louisiana v. Callais.
One issue in the cases is whether private individuals and advocacy groups, rather than only the federal government, can sue to enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
In the North Dakota case, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that only the federal government can sue to enforce Section 2.
The North Dakota case was brought by two Native American tribes and concerns claims that district lines diluted Native American voting strength.
The question of who can sue matters because private plaintiffs and advocacy groups have brought most Section 2 lawsuits, so limits on private suits could narrow enforcement of the law.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from the Supreme Court’s decision to send the cases back rather than resolve the enforcement question.