The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled Tuesday, July 7, to reverse a 2023 legal victory by the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and the Spirit Lake Nation, in which a federal district court judge had concluded that North Dakota’s state legislative map unlawfully diluted Native American voting strength in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
The case has a long procedural history. In 2023, the U.S. District Court sided with the tribes and ordered a remedial map, which was used in the 2024 elections, resulting in three tribal members being elected to the state legislature from District 9 for the first time in over 30 years. The Eighth Circuit then ruled that private plaintiffs cannot bring lawsuits under Section 2 of the VRA at all, a sweeping holding that would have applied across all seven states in the circuit (Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota). The Supreme Court blocked that ruling in July 2025 and, on May 18, 2026, vacated the Eighth Circuit’s decision, sending it back for reconsideration in light of Callais.
On remand, the Eighth Circuit applied the new Callais standard and reversed the tribes’ victory, finding that the district court’s original findings no longer hold under the heightened evidentiary standard established by Callais. Justice Jackson, the lone dissenter in the May 18 SCOTUS order, had warned this would happen, writing that she saw “no basis for vacating” the Eighth Circuit’s ruling because Callais did not address the private right-of-action question that was central to the case.
This is significant for two reasons. First, it affects state legislative maps, not congressional districts. Second, the practical consequence is significant: the three tribal members elected in 2024 under the remedial map could lose their seats if the original gerrymandered map is restored for 2026. The case is Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians v. Jaeger, and will now return to the district court.
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