Following SCOTUS Decision, Louisiana Is Wasting No Time Redrawing Its Maps
The Supreme Court didn’t kill the Voting Rights
Act yesterday, but they might as well have. They left it in a persistent
judicial vegetative state, severely limiting how Section II can be
applied to the drawing of congressional districts based on race.
The case—Louisiana v. Callais—concerned a congressional map that was
struck down for violating the VRA. Its redraw was later challenged as
unconstitutional based on the creation of a majority-black district. The
Court ruled 6-3 that this was unconstitutional. Now, Section II wasn’t
gutted, but it essentially was, as the liberal dissent written by
Justice Kagan stipulated. The entire South is now open to be redrawn,
and Louisiana isn’t wasting any time. Gov. Jeff Landry has already
canceled the upcoming primaries so his state can redraw its districts
(via WaPo):
Louisiana
Gov. Jeff Landry (R) told Republican House candidates Wednesday that he
plans to suspend next month’s primary elections so state lawmakers can
pass a new congressional map first, according to two people with
knowledge of the calls.
The move follows a Supreme Court decision
earlier in the day that found Louisiana had unlawfully discriminated by
race when it created a second majority Black congressional district
under legal pressure. The ruling positions Republicans to gain one or
two seats in the midterms as they fight to hold their narrow majority in
the House.
The 6-3 decision limited a key provision of the
landmark Voting Rights Act and could lead to other Black Democrats
across the South losing their House seats. Most states are unlikely to
be able to redraw districts in time for the November midterm elections,
but Louisiana could be one of the exceptions.
Landry’s
announcement to suspend the May 16 primary could come as early as Friday
— one day before early voting is to begin, according to people familiar
with his plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss
private conversations.
The appellees for Callais have asked the Court to strike down the current Louisiana map later today.
Breaking;
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) plans to suspend the May 16 primary
elections so lawmakers can redraw the congressional map Per Washington
Post pic.twitter.com/08nHlbRvV1
The
application notes that the Legislature is considering pushing back
election deadlines to draw a new map, but that jurisdiction must first
be returned to the district court to approve such a map or impose its
own.
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