Supreme Court Declines Review of Arkansas Voting Rights Lawsuit

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not review an Arkansas-based lawsuit concerning Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act. The move leaves intact a 2025 ruling by an 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel that ends the ability of private individuals and groups to sue to enforce the section in seven states.

Section 208 permits voters with a disability or inability to read or write to receive assistance from a person of their choice. The 8th Circuit covers Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. The court is the only federal appeals court to hold that no private right of action exists under Section 208 or Section 2.

The case originated with Arkansas United, an immigrant-advocacy group that challenged a state law limiting any person to helping no more than six voters cast ballots. A federal judge ruled in 2022 that the limit violates Section 208. After state officials appealed, the 8th Circuit panel held last year that private groups lack standing to sue under the provision.

In May the Supreme Court issued a ruling that further weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Shortly afterward it declined to address the private-right-of-action question in cases from Mississippi and North Dakota. Republican state officials have argued that only the U.S.

Attorney general may bring lawsuits under these sections. Justice Neil Gorsuch issued a single-paragraph opinion in 2021 questioning whether a private right of action exists under the provisions.