The Supreme Court on Thursday paused a lower court ruling limiting the ability of private individuals to bring lawsuits over potential violations of the Voting Rights Act. The case could be heard by the justices on the merits in the coming term.

The justices stayed a ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit regarding a challenge to North Dakota’s state legislative maps from Native American groups. The ruling, which favored the state, said that private parties could not challenge state legislative maps under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The 6-3 ruling from the Supreme Court paused that ruling while the Native American groups filed a petition for the high court to take on the case.