December 15, 2023
The Eighth Circuit on Friday denied a stay bid by North Dakota Secretary of State Michael Howe that would have halted a lower court's ruling that ordered the state's lawmakers to remedy Voting Rights Act violations by Dec. 22 and instead allowed the contested map to guide its 2024 elections.
December 14, 2023
North Dakota Secretary of State Michael Howe is asking the Eighth Circuit to "preserve the status quo" and stay an order requiring the state's lawmakers to remedy Voting Rights Act violations and allow its already enacted redistricting map to remain in place for the 2024 elections while litigation plays out in the appellate court.
December 11, 2023
Any change to North Dakota's redistricting map after Dec. 31 can't be undone without causing significant confusion and hardships among voters and candidates, Secretary of State Micheal Howe has told a federal district judge, saying a stay in judgment will allow its lawmakers a "reasonable opportunity" to adopt a remedial plan before the court imposes one.
December 08, 2023
A federal judge is allowing two Native American tribes time to plead their case as to why an alternative version of a new state voting map should be used to correct Voting Rights Act violations should North Dakota lawmakers fail to meet a deadline requiring them to make the amendments themselves.
December 05, 2023
North Dakota Secretary of State Michael Howe is asking a federal district court judge to stay a ruling requiring the state's lawmakers to address Voting Rights Act violations, saying the judgment that also barred him from allowing the nomination or election of candidates in contested districts makes it impossible to receive meaningful appellate review before the new 2024 election map must be finalized.
December 01, 2023
Two North Dakota tribes embroiled in a Voting Rights Act lawsuit intend to petition the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking to overturn an Eighth Circuit ruling that denied them an en banc hearing to plead their case as to how certain elected officials' communications are relevant in their challenge to newly enacted legislative districts.
November 17, 2023
North Dakota lawmakers have little more than a month to adopt a plan that will remedy Voting Rights Act violations, a federal judge said, determining that the 2021 redrawing of two voting districts and creation of two subdistricts prevents Native American voters from having an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice.
September 07, 2023
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals won't allow two North Dakota tribes embroiled in a voting rights lawsuit to plead their case as to how certain elected officials' communications will help prove that the state's new redistricting laws weakened their electoral power.
June 16, 2023
A North Dakota tribe challenging the state's new legislative voting maps is asking the Eighth Circuit for more time to petition for an en banc hearing that, if granted, would allow it to try and overturn the appellate court's recent ruling denying it access to various lawmakers' communications in the Voting Rights Act suit.
June 14, 2023
The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, as it headed into its third day of trial alongside another tribe in a Voting Rights Act challenge to the state's new legislative voting maps, has asked the court for leave to preserve a claim of error stemming from a recent Eighth Circuit ruling that allows North Dakota lawmakers to maintain legislative privilege over documents detailing the redistricting process.