The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Aug. 5, 2026
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Callais decision has crippled the 1965 Voting Rights Act Section 2, allowing state legislatures to erase formerly court-mandated majority minority voting districts. African American districts were devastated, but the Eighth Circuit just vacated a previously-upheld fair map for Native American voters in North Dakota.
In 2022, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, the Spirit Lake Tribe, and individual Native voters challenged voting districts created by the North Dakota legislature and negotiated a settlement with the state.
A radical 2023 decision by the Eight Circuit ruled that voters and voting rights groups have no “private right of action” to bring a challenge, only the U.S. Justice Department. The State of North Dakota saw an opportunity to overturn the Turtle Mountain decision. In an emergency appeal, Justice Brett Kavanaugh stayed the map’s implementation in 2025.
In its Callais decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled race could not be a factor in redistricting, neutralizing the Voting Rights Act Section 2 – and the Turtle Mountain majority-minority map. July 7th, the Eight Circuit vacated the map, and remanded it to the lower court, where it’s likely to be dismissed.
It’s yet another insult to Native voters, who must now endure more government-sponsored discrimination with few tools left to fight it. We have more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT – Judgement in Turtle Mountain Band v. Howe
U.S. Supreme Court – (2025) EMERGENCY APPLICATION TO STAY THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT’S
MANDATE PENDING PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI
Courthouse News Service – (2025) North Dakota tribes bring fight for voting rights to Supreme Court
Related ADM Reports:
American Democracy Minute – Eighth Circuit ‘Private Right of Action’ Ruling Temporarily Halted by Justice Kavanaugh in Case by North Dakota Tribal Nations
American Democracy Minute – Radical Decision by Appeals Court in Arkansas Case Greenlights North Dakota Appeal to Restore Maps Designed to Suppress Native American Voting Power
Groups Taking Action:
Native American Rights Fund, North Dakota Native Vote, Tribal Supreme Court Project
Register or Check Your Voter Registration:
U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
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