The Supreme Court has 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 Supreme Court will take up a Republican-led drive to wipe away limits on how much political parties can spend in coordination with candidates for Congress and president.

National legislation favored by Democrats could counteract some state restrictions, but that too is no sure thing in a closely divided Congress. Groups opposed to Georgia's sweeping overhaul of election laws filed suit in federal court in Atlanta on Thursday, a few hours after Gov. AdThe Georgia law was enacted less than three months after the state elected two Democrats to the Senate, handing the party control of the chamber. The Atlanta-based 11th Circuit includes Georgia, and the same court would handle any appeal of a trial court ruling. Congress could render the court fight virtually meaningless if it were to pass Democratic proposals that would, among other things, strike down hurdles to voting and revive the advance approval portion of the Voting Rights Act.