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 paused a lower court order pending a decision on whether the Supreme Court will take up the case, a major challenge to the Voting Rights Act.

The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a lower-court ruling in a redistricting dispute in North Dakota that would gut a landmark federal civil rights law for millions of people. The justices indicated in an unsigned order that they are likely to take up a federal appeals court ruling that would eliminate the most common path people and civil rights groups use to sue under a key provision of the 60-year-old Voting Rights Act.