Judge rules Louisiana legislative maps violate Voting Rights Act

A federal judge ruled Thursday that maps Louisiana lawmakers drew two years ago to update the boundaries of their own districts do not give Black voters a fair opportunity to elect their own representatives.

U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick of the Middle District of Louisiana rejected the state House and Senate maps, saying that they violate the Voting Rights Act. 

Her ruling comes in the case Nairne v. Ardoin, in which Black voters sued the secretary of state and Republican legislative leaders. The plaintiffs argued the maps unlawfully dilute Black voting strength by gerrymandering the districts to minimize the number of majority-Black House and Senate seats. 

“It’s a great day for democracy. The plaintiffs are elated.” said Jared Evans, an attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund who represents the plaintiffs. 

Dick’s order gives the state a “reasonable period of time” to approve new legislative districts that do not violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits voting laws or procedures that purposefully discriminate on the basis of race, color or membership in a language minority group. 

Dick, a federal court appointee of former President Barack Obama, did not specify in her ruling what a reasonable period of time is or the number of majority Black districts necessary to comply with the Voting Rights Act. Plaintiffs have said the state should add six in the House and three in the Senate. Currently, 28 out of 105 House seats are majority Black, as are 11 of 39 Senate seats.

Her ruling also does not specify when the maps need to take effect. One possibility would be 2027, when the next legislative elections are held. Evans said his clients suffer harm every time a legislature elected under the current plan meets. 

Thirty days would be a reasonable timeframe to enact new plans, Evans said, so new elections could be held this fall. 

Because majority Black districts lean Democratic, adding more of them puts Republicans at risk of losing their supermajority in the Legislature. The GOP currently holds a supermajority in both chambers, meaning they control two-thirds of seats and don’t need a single Democratic to join their side in votes to put constitutional amendments before voters or overturn a governor’s veto. 

Louisiana Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, said in an interview with the Illuminator that if the state has to enact new redistricting plans, he would prefer it happen in a regular session rather than an additional special session. The Legislature has already held a redistricting-related special session this year and is slated to go into a special session on crime Feb. 19. 

“It gives more time for members to actually do the math and gives more time for public input, public testimony and let members and their constituents have a voice in that process,” Henry said.