In wake of Voting Rights Act ruling, North Dakota to appeal decision that protected tribes’ rights

By JACK DURA
Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota plans to appeal a federal judge’s decision that found a Voting Rights Act violation in the state’s 2021 redistricting map for two Native American tribes. Republican Secretary of State Michael Howe announced his decision on Tuesday, a day after a federal appeals court dealt a significant blow to the Voting Rights Act. Voting rights groups had hailed U.S. District Chief Judge Peter Welte’s ruling Friday that the tribes’ voting rights were unlawfully diluted by a 2021 legislative redistricting map. But in an unrelated lawsuit Monday, a federal appeals court ruled that private individuals and groups such as the NAACP don’t have the ability to sue under a key section of the Voting Rights Act.