ICYMI: NRF Statement on Filings in Louisiana VRA Lawsuit Challenging Gerrymandered Congressional Map

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Brooke Lillard

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ICYMI: NRF Statement on Filings in Louisiana VRA Lawsuit Challenging Gerrymandered Congressional Map

Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, plaintiffs in Robinson v. Ardoin, the lawsuit challenging Louisiana's congressional map for violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), submitted a letter brief to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals asking the court to allow the appeal to proceed in the ordinary course following the submission of supplemental briefs addressing the impact of the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Allen v. Milligan. 

The National Redistricting Foundation (NRF), the 501(c)(3) affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), initiated the legal challenge against the Louisiana map in 2022 supporting the Galmon plaintiff group, as well as the successful challenge against the Alabama map in Allen v. Milligan.

Marina Jenkins, Executive Director of the NRF, issued the following statement:

“Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act requires – and voters deserve – equal access and fair representation, and in Louisiana this means a map that empowers Black voters to elect a candidate of their choice in two congressional districts. Yet, despite making up nearly one third of the state's population, the state’s legislature drew just one majority-Black district out of a total of six districts, with the rest of the state’s Black voting population cracked among the remainder of the districts, unlawfully diminishing their voting power. The Supreme Court’s decision in Allen v. Milligan reaffirmed the prevailing standards and governing law, and squarely rejected invitations to change existing law. The appeal should proceed in the ordinary course, while a fair, compliant map is enacted now, prior to the 2024 elections, to remedy this unlawful disenfranchisement.”

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