Louisiana Voters Challenge Discriminatory Map with Support of National Redistricting Foundation

Louisiana Voters Challenge Discriminatory Map with Support of National Redistricting Foundation

Washington, D.C. – The congressional map passed by the Louisiana Legislature, in spite of Governor Edwards’ veto, is being challenged for diluting the voting power of the state’s Black communities in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) by a group of individual voters with the support of the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF). The lawsuit, Galmon v. Ardoin, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.

“It is shocking that the first vote overriding a Louisiana Governor’s veto in a generation was to deny Black Louisianans fair representation in Congress. The state legislature is intentionally diluting the voting power of Black Louisianans and we are proud to stand with voters in challenging this discriminatory map in federal court,” said Marina Jenkins, NRF Director of Litigation and Policy. “This map is the product of self-interested politicians only focused on maintaining power, at the expense of fair representation. Louisiana’s Black voices must be heard, and they deserve maps that provide them the equal opportunity to exercise their voting power in the state.”

Black voters in Louisiana are roughly one-third of the state’s population and over the past decade accounted for nearly all of the state’s population growth. Yet in the congressional map passed by the legislature, Black voters comprise a majority of only one district—CD-2—and are held below 33 percent of the population in every other district. The map effectively makes it possible for Black voters to elect a candidate of their choice in only one of the six congressional districts.  

The complaint alleges that the new congressional plan cracks Black voters in Louisiana between several congressional districts, despite the fact that the Black population is sufficiently numerous and geographically compact to form a majority of the voting-age population in a second congressional district. Plaintiffs in the case are asking the court to declare that the new map violates Section 2 of the VRA and to order the enactment of a new congressional plan that includes two majority-Black congressional districts.  

The complaint can be found here.

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Contact: Jena Doyle | doyle@redistrictingfoundation.org