Gov. Edwards Tosses Congressional District Map in Louisiana
BATON ROUGE, La. — Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards on Wednesday vetoed the congressional district map approved by Louisiana’s Republican-controlled legislature last month, saying it failed to comply with the Voting Rights Act.
In the wake of that decision, a group of Louisiana voters, supported by the National Redistricting Action Fund, asked the Civil District Court in East Baton Rouge to establish a process to ensure a new congressional district map is in place ahead of the 2022 elections.
Though Edwards did allow the state House and Senate district maps passed by the state legislature to become law without his approval, he noted that out of all of the 163 districts the Republicans created, not one was an additional majority minority district, “despite the fact that the percentage of the Black population increased and the white population decreased.”
The governor did approve maps that designated new districts for the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Louisiana Public Service Commission, but in their case too he cited similar reservations.
But it was the proposed congressional map that he had the most trouble with.
The map approved in the legislature retained a majority of white voters in five of Louisiana’s six districts, despite 2022 census data that show the state’s Black population has increased to 33% in the past decade.
Democrats in the legislature made multiple attempts to add a second Black-majority district to the map, but their proposals failed to advance in either the state House or Senate redistricting committees.
Currently only Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District, which includes portions of New Orleans and Baton Rouge, has a Black representative.
“This map is simply not fair to the people of Louisiana and does not meet the standards set forth in the federal Voting Rights Act,” Edwards said in his veto statement. “The legislature should immediately begin the work of drawing a map that ensures Black voices can be properly heard in the voting booth. It can be done and it should be done.”
Of his decision to reject one map but allow others to stand, the governor said he simply did not believe “the legislature [had] the ability to draw new state House and Senate maps during this upcoming legislative session without the process halting the important work of the state of Louisiana.”
“At a time when we face unprecedented challenges, but have unprecedented opportunities to make historic investments in our future, the legislature should be focused on the issues in the upcoming session and not concerned about what their own districts will look like in the 2023 elections,” Edwards added.
Civil rights groups and voting rights advocates have already said they plan to file legal challenges to any and all maps that don’t reflect the state’s minority population.
In a press release announcing the lawsuit filed after Edwards’ veto, the National Redistricting Action Fund said “current dynamics” made it clear the political branches of Louisiana’s state government would not be able reach consensus on a lawful congressional district plan in time for use during the 2022 election cycle.
In the lawsuit the plaintiffs ask the court to create new maps ensuring they “reflect the state’s population changes,” while allowing the 2022 election cycle to continue as scheduled.
“Louisiana needs a fair congressional map, and it has become obvious that for an appropriate map to be enacted in a timely manner the court must step in to produce it,” said former Attorney General Eric Holder Jr., who heads the NRAF.
“Instead of pursuing a fair map, the Louisiana Legislature arrogantly chose to endorse an unjust status quo, passing a map that continues to dilute the voting power of Black Louisianans and keeps them from having legally mandated representation in Congress. Governor Edwards’ veto this week was necessary to protect free and fair elections in Louisiana,” he said.
“The court must now step in and establish a schedule that will enable it to adopt a remedial congressional plan based on 2020 census data. Louisiana voters deserve the opportunity to elect representatives of their choice — in this cycle — with districts drawn to reflect the diverse makeup of the state,” Holder said.
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