The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to hear Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, 25-253, on November 7. This is the case in which the U.S. District Court had struck down North Dakota’s legislative district boundaries, but then the Eighth Circuit had said that only the federal government can file cases under the Voting Rights Act, section 2. That conclusion was at odds with many other precedents going back sixty years.

On October 8, the U.S. Supreme Court heard Bost v Illinois State Board of Elections, 24-568. This is a case in which an Illinois Republican member of the U.S. House challenged the 2005 Illinois law that says postal ballots have until two weeks after election day to arrive. The Seventh Circuit had said that the candidate lacks standing.

Here is the transcript of the hearing. Congressman Bost had seemed to lose in the Seventh Circuit because that court that he was not harmed by the Illinois law. He has been elected to the U.S. House ten times and he always wins with a huge margin. In 2024 he got 74.2%, for example.

The U.S. Supreme Court argument made frequent reference to minor parties and their campaigns. Several justices said several times that some minor parties have “zero” chance of winning. Most of the justices seemed skeptical of any standing rule that might force courts to evaluate whether the election was going to be a close result or not.

Democrats think this map was the least friendly toward their party among the six maps that were being considered by the legislature. The redrawing comes after a court decision this past August that invalidated the previous Congressional District map.

Here is the story from Politico.

Thanks to electionlawblog.org for the heads up!