Skip to main content
Supreme Court Case TrackerThe Court, in plain English

Emergency application

Private voting rights lawsuits

Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians v. Michael Howe, Secretary of State of North Dakota

Granted
No. 25A62Stay applicationFiled by a private partyPresented to Justice KavanaughFrom United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

What did the Court do?

The Court granted the request on July 24, 2025: the lower court's ruling is on hold while the appeal continues.

Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case. Justice Thomas, Justice Alito, and Justice Gorsuch would have ruled the other way.

Filed Ruled 9 days after filing

What's being asked

The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Spirit Lake Tribe, and several individuals ask the Court to pause the Eighth Circuit's mandate. They seek Supreme Court review of whether Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act can be enforced through private lawsuits challenging North Dakota's legislative map.

What the Court did

The Court paused the Eighth Circuit's mandate (formal order returning the case to the lower court) and granted (approved) the request. The pause lasts while a timely Supreme Court review petition is filed and decided; it ends if review is denied or after judgment if granted. Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch would deny the request; the order does not report a full vote.

  • Dissented
  • Vote not published
Dissenting · 3recorded against the Court's order
  1. Thomaswould deny
  2. Alitowould deny
  3. Gorsuchwould deny
Vote not published · 6the order does not say how they voted
  1. Roberts
  2. Sotomayor
  3. Kagan
  4. Kavanaugh
  5. Barrett
  6. Jackson
The order records the positions of 3 of 9 justices. The Court usually does not say how each justice voted on an emergency application, so the rest are shown as not published.
Half of 82 rulings on applications where the Court asked for a response came 10 to 26 days after filing, and the median was 17 days; this one was ruled on 9 days after filing.

What it means

This temporary pause does not decide who wins the underlying Voting Rights Act dispute. The Eighth Circuit's ruling remains in place, but its mandate is paused; no related Supreme Court case or argument date is listed.

Sources

Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 25A62. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.

Checked October 4, 2026