ICYMI: Court Denies Attempt to Force Gerrymandered Congressional Map onto Louisiana Voters

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Jena Doyle
Doyle@redistrictingfoundation.org

ICYMI: Court Denies Attempt to Force Gerrymandered Congressional Map onto Louisiana Voters

Washington, D.C. — Sunday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied a motion to stay an earlier ruling that blocked the usage of a gerrymandered Louisiana congressional map, originally drawn by the Republican-led legislature. Black Louisianians comprise more than one third of the population in the state, yet the state legislature enacted a map with only one district (out of  six) in which Black voters could elect their preferred candidates.

As a result of this recent denial, the Louisiana State Legislature should now move forward with a special legislative session to draw a new congressional map that includes two districts allowing Black voters to elect candidates of choice, as ordered by the court. This marks another victory in the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF)-supported lawsuit, Galmon v. Ardoin, filed in March 2022 by Louisiana voters who asked the court to declare that the state legislature’s congressional map violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

“This is another victory in the fight for fair maps for Louisiana voters,” said Kelly Burton, the President of the NRF. “We have thwarted another attempt to force Louisianans to vote in gerrymandered congressional districts and diminish the voting power of Black communities. The court has rightfully determined that the state legislature should move forward as ordered to redraw a congressional map that gives Black Louisianians the ability to elect candidates of their choice to Congress. Now it is time for the state legislature to correct its injustice against communities of color.”

The full opinion can be found here.

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