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

The U.S. Supreme Court is seen Friday, May 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

By Lindsay Whitehurst

Associated Press

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 the high court weakened the Civil Rights-era law.

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

Advocacy groups are key players because they bring 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.

The appeals court’s finding has nevertheless been cited elsewhere, with Mississippi making a similar argument in another appeal over its state legislative map. The court also sent that case back for reconsideration on Monday.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from the decision, writing that both rulings should have been reversed.

The conservative majority, meanwhile, has already diluted enforcement power with their April decision that struck down a majority Black congressional district in Louisiana and made future cases much harder to win.