Judges say they’ll draw new Louisiana election map if lawmakers don’t by June 3
NEW ORLEANS– A panel of federal judges that recently threw out a congressional election map that gave Louisiana a second majority-black district said Tuesday that the state Legislature must approve a new map by June 3 or the panel will have to adopt one impose on the state.
However, voting rights advocates and Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill said they would appeal the new map’s defense to the Supreme Court.
“Today, three federal judges who have never called a single day election, ignored the irrefutable testimony that we need a map by May 15, and once again upended Louisiana’s congressional elections,” Murrill said in a statement statement by email.
The latest order from a panel of two federal district judges and an appellate judge said they would begin working on a recovery plan while giving lawmakers a chance to come up with a plan during the current regular legislative session, which ends June 3 must end.
“To be clear, the fact that the Court is proceeding with the remedial phase of this case does not prevent the Louisiana Legislature from exercising its ‘sovereign interest’ in drawing a legally compliant map,” the justices wrote.
Whatever comes out of the court could influence the makeup of the next U.S. Congress. Given voting patterns, a new predominantly black district would give Democrats a chance to gain another House seat. The map that was recently discarded turned District 6, represented by Republican Rep. Garret Graves, into a predominantly black district. Democratic state Sen. Cleo Fields, a former congressman who is Black, had said he would run for the seat.
U.S. District Judges David Joseph and Robert Summerhays, both of whom were nominated to the bench by former President Donald Trump, said the latest map violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment because “race was the predominant factor” affecting the directed its creation. Judge Carl Stewart, a nominee of former President Bill Clinton, disagreed.
Tuesday’s order is the latest development in a see-saw legal battle that has taken place in two federal districts and an appeals court.
The state currently has five white Republican members of the U.S. House and one black member who is a Democrat. All were most recently elected based on a map drawn by the Legislature in 2022.
US. District Judge Shelly Dick of Baton Rouge blocked subsequent use of the 2022 map, saying it likely violated the federal Voting Rights Act by many of the state’s Black residents — about a third of the population — across five counties to divide. A federal appeals court gave lawmakers a deadline to act earlier this year. The Legislature responded with a map that created a new district that crosses the state diagonally, connecting the black populations of Shreveport in the northwest, Alexandria in the center, and Lafayette and Baton Rouge in the south.
The new map could mean the loss of a Republican House seat. But it was supported by Gov. Jeff Landry, Murrill and other Republicans as a way to comply with Dick’s ruling, avoid a court-drafted map and protect powerful Republican members of Congress, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
A group of self-identified non-African American voters has filed a lawsuit against the map, saying it was unconstitutionally drawn with race as a primary factor.
A three-judge panel heard arguments in that case and ruled 2-1 against the card. The same panel ruled on Tuesday.
Whether those judges would approve a map that creates a new, predominantly black neighborhood is unclear. In their April 30 ruling disapproving the new district, they did not rule on whether a second minority district could be drawn — but they noted that the state’s black population is spread out.
They gave interested parties until May 17 to submit new proposals to the court.
The Louisiana Secretary of State has said it needs a map by May 15 to prepare for the fall elections. However, the judges noted testimony from previous lawsuits that the office could be prepared if the maps were completed by the end of May. The registration period for candidates is mid-July.