Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards. Photo: Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
A Federal court blocked a Louisiana congressional redistricting map on Monday saying it violates the Voting Rights Act.
Why it matters: The Louisiana state legislature must now redraw the map to include a second majority-minority district.
Flashback: Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) first vetoed the legislature's congressional redistricting map in March, saying it didn't meet the standards of the Voting Rights Act because it didn't include a second majority-Black district.
- At the end of March, the legislature voted to override Edwards' veto. Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit the same day alleging that the map purposefully "dilutes Black voting strength in violation of the Voting Rights Act," per the ruling.
Details: The legislature's map compresses large numbers of Black voters into a single majority-Black district while "cracking" the remaining Black voters in the state among five other districts where "they are sufficiently outnumbered to ensure that they are unable to participate equally in the electoral process," the ruling added.
The bottom line: The court ordered the legislature to enact a remedial map by June 20. If it is unable to do so, the court will then "issue additional orders to enact a remedial plan compliant with the laws and Constitution of the United States."