Louisiana elections in limbo after Supreme Court map ruling
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Louisiana's attorney general is raising the possibility of delaying election dates to give lawmakers time to redraw the state's congressional map after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the current one Wednesday.
Why it matters: The ruling throws Louisiana's election timeline into uncertainty and could reshape how districts are drawn across the South.
The big picture: Early voting begins Saturday for party primaries for the hotly contested U.S. Senate seat, adding urgency for state officials as they weigh next steps.
- Absentee ballots have already been mailed to overseas voters, says Janai Nelson, president of the Legal Defense Fund.
- AG Liz Murrill told The Times-Picayune that the Legislature could push the early voting dates "into the future" to give lawmakers time to draw a new map before the November general election.
- She'll be looking to the Legislature "to see which direction they want to go," reporter Alyse Pfeil writes.
- Gov. Jeff Landry, Secretary of State Nancy Landry and legislative leaders on Wednesday said they are reviewing the ruling and didn't commit to immediate action.
The latest: The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision Wednesday found that Louisiana's use of race in creating a second majority-Black congressional district was an "unconstitutional racial gerrymander," Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the majority.
- The ruling limits a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, which helped end Jim Crow laws and expanded protections for voters of color across the South.
- In a dissent, Justice Elena Kagan argued that the majority opinion "threatens a half-century's worth of gains in voting equality."
- It could also boost the Republican majority in the U.S. House by an additional 19 seats when compared to 2024 maps.
Catch up quick: Louisiana has been locked in a court feud over its congressional maps since 2020, with civil rights groups, lawmakers and other interested parties jockeying to implement new districts.
- Black voters, who make up roughly 30% of the state's population, successfully sued to add a second majority-Black district in 2022, arguing they were underrepresented.
- Lawmakers adopted a new map, but a group of non-Black voters challenged it, accusing lawmakers of relying too heavily on race.
- A three-judge panel agreed in 2024, setting the stage for the high court's ruling.
What they're saying: "It's a day of loss for Black voters in Louisiana," Nelson said Wednesday, adding that the Supreme Court prioritized "white grievance over racial injustice."
- Alanah Odoms, the executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana, told reporters it was an "abominable outcome" and the organization is in "very deep thought" about its next steps.
- "Louisiana is the test case," Odoms said. "What works here will be exported."
- About early voting, Odoms added: "Our hope is that this governor and this state legislature would not take the unprecedented and unlawful act of subverting an election that is already in progress."
The intrigue: Lawmakers will likely redraw the map, potentially reducing the number of majority-Black districts.
- Odoms says the ACLU expects lawmakers to draw six majority-white districts or five majority-white and one majority-Black district.
What's next: State lawmakers could be called into a special session to redraw the map, while legal challenges are likely to continue.
Go deeper: How the case could reshape the South's congressional representation