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The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Spirit Lake Nation, and individual Native voters proved at trial that that the North Dakota Legislature’s 2021 redistricting map violated Section 2 of the VRA because it unlawfully diluted Native American voters' voting rights by cracking and packing Native voters into gerrymandered districts. Although the 8th Circuit had previously held that private plaintiffs may not sue directly under Section 2, it had left open the question whether they may enforce Section 2 via a different civil rights statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The district court ruled that the plaintiffs here could challenge the discriminatory map through Section 1983.

A divided panel of the 8th Circuit reversed. Despite the fact that the court had previously made clear that the enforceability of Section 2 of the VRA via Section 1983 was an open question, the majority ruled that Arkansas State Conference court had actually answered that question in the negative. Because that ruling conflicts with 8th Circuit and Supreme Court precedent, the plaintiffs have asked the full 8th Circuit to rehear the case en banc to re-establish that private plaintiffs could enforce Section 2 of the VRA—either directly or through Section 1983.

On behalf of the plaintiffs from the Arkansas State Conference case—NAACP Arkansas State Conference and the Arkansas Public Policy Panel—the ºìÐÓÊÓƵ and ºìÐÓÊÓƵ of Arkansas filed an amicus brief encouraging the 8th Circuit to rehear the case en banc. The brief emphasizes how the Arkansas State Conference court explicitly left this question open and how foreclosing Section 2 enforcement would harm Black voters across the circuit who have long relied on the statute’s protection to help secure an equal opportunity to participate in the political process.