Supreme Court sends closely watched Native American voting rights decision back to lower court

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 7:17 PM EDT, May 18, 2026


WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court acted in a Voting Rights Act case brought by Native American tribes on Monday, saying a closely watched ruling needs to be reconsidered after a high court ruling that weakened the Civil Rights-era law.

The justices ordered lower courts to take another look at the lower-court decision that went against the tribes and undercut a key enforcement mechanism: lawsuits from voters and advocacy groups.

Those groups have been key to enforcing the law, bringing most of the lawsuits filed under the provision of the Voting Rights Act known as Section 2.

But in a North Dakota case brought by two Native American tribes, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that only the federal government can sue to enforce the law.

The decision conflicted with decades of case law. The Supreme Court blocked it in July, allowing the tribes’ preferred maps to temporarily stay in place. An attorney for the Native American Rights Fund, Lenny Powell, said tossing out the appeals court ruling was the right call. He vowed to “keep fighting to ensure that Native voters have the ability to vote and effect change in their communities.”

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-native-american-supreme-court-6238745b461e0c7b4a9cc7a784800711

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Link to ORDER (PDF) - https://thearp.org/documents/20024/ND_25-253_05.18.26.pdf