Voters enter Martin Luther King Jr. Charter Elementary School in New Orleans to vote in the 2022 election.
Gerald Herbert/AP
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Gerald Herbert/AP
Voters enter Martin Luther King Jr. Charter Elementary School in New Orleans to vote in the 2022 election.
Gerald Herbert/AP
A federal court has blocked Louisiana from using the state’s new congressional map for this year’s elections, a new twist in the state’s long redistricting battle over the rights of Black voters.
The legal battle will help determine the balance of power in the next Congress, with the Supreme Court ruling on key remaining parts of the embattled Voting Rights Act that have been weakened by conservatives on the high court. There is a possibility that there will be an opportunity to reconsider its constitutionality. Over the past 10 years, it has been the majority.
In a 2-1 decision announced Tuesday, the three-judge court ruled that the voting district maps (which the Louisiana Legislature created during a special session in January to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act) (Created in two constituencies with a majority of voters) were certified. The court ruled in favor of a group of self-described “non-African American” voters who argued that the state was engaging in racial gerrymandering in violation of the Constitution.
“The primary role of race in state decisions is evidenced by the statements of legislative decision-makers, the division of cities and parishes along racial lines, the unusual shapes of districts, and the fact that the contours of districts are drawn on the basis of race. “We need to absorb enough Black neighborhoods to achieve the goal of majority Black neighborhoods, as reflected in evidence that Justices David Joseph and Robert Summerhays said in their majority opinion in the case known colloquially as “Negro District.” Karais vs. Landry.
In a dissenting opinion, 5th Circuit Judge Carl Stewart, a Clinton appointee, wrote, “The record as a whole shows that the Louisiana Legislature has pursued a variety of political concerns, including the protection of certain incumbents, alongside race.” “It has been proven that there was no factor that took precedence over the other.” . ”
The three-judge court ordered all parties to meet on May 6 to discuss what maps will be used in this year’s Louisiana election, but the ruling will be sent to the Supreme Court. A direct appeal is expected.
The lawsuit faces a May 15 deadline, when Louisiana’s top election official, Republican Secretary of State Nancy Landry, must complete the state’s legislative maps for use in this year’s elections. said.
The state’s Republican-led lawmakers are responding to a recent lawsuit in which a federal judge ruled that the state’s previous maps likely diluted the state’s electoral districts, which are majority black. passed a contested map that included two electoral districts. Given the racially polarized voting in Louisiana, a Democrat is likely to be elected. The voting power of the state’s black voters.
Previous maps showed that black Louisianans, who make up about a third of the state’s population, were in the majority in only one of the state’s six congressional districts.
Still, the Supreme Court ruled that the map, which was struck down by Sherry Dick after a federal district judge ruled that it could violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, was rejected after the justices heard a similar congressional redistricting case in Alabama. The government authorized its use in the 2022 midterm elections.
In an unexpected ruling, the high court decided to uphold a previous Article II ruling, saying race should not be considered when voting district maps are redrawn unless there is evidence of intentional discrimination. rejected Alabama’s claim.
But Southern Republican state officials continue to try to reshape how federal courts interpret the Voting Rights Act’s protections against racial discrimination in elections.
Edited by benjamin swayzey
