WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review an Arkansas-based lawsuit challenging a state law restricting voter assistance. The Court announced its decision on a Monday, leaving in place a 2025 appeals panel ruling from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The 2025 appeals panel ruling determined that private individuals and groups do not have the right to sue to enforce Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act in the states covered by the 8th Circuit. These states include Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act generally allows voters with a disability, or an inability to read or write, to receive help with voting from a person of their choice.

The lawsuit was initiated by Arkansas United, a group that provides Spanish-language interpreters at polling sites to assist voters with limited English proficiency. Arkansas United challenged an Arkansas law banning a person who is not a poll worker from helping more than six voters cast ballots. A federal judge ruled in 2022 that this Arkansas law violates Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act.

GOP state officials appealed the 2022 federal judge ruling. An 8th Circuit panel subsequently found that private groups do not have the right to bring this kind of lawsuit. The 8th Circuit is the only federal appeals court to break with decades of precedent on the legal issue of private right of action under Section 208. Justice Neil Gorsuch issued a single-paragraph opinion in 2021 questioning a private right of action.