The most blocked map was passed in March, after the GOP-controlled legislature overcame Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ veto on the map. The map had retained Republican advantage in five of the state’s six congressional districts, retaining District 2 – which stretches from Baton Rouge to New Orleans – the only black-majority district and the only district that has favors Democrats. The black population in Louisiana is 33%. On June 6, Judge Shelly Dick of the U.S. District Court for Midtown Louisiana ordered the Louisiana state legislature to add a second black majority – citing the “hateful history” of state discrimination. “Evidence of Louisiana’s long and ongoing history of voting discrimination is largely borne out by the arguments put forward by the NAACP Louisiana State Conference and other challengers in the case,” Dick said. A federal appeals court refused to put the decision on hold and scheduled an expedited hearing to begin on July 8. But Louisiana has asked the Supreme Court to intervene now, even before these hearings take place. Asking the lower court to freeze the opinion of the lower court, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry argued that the boundaries of the state Congress could not be created to create two black majority constituencies without “racial segregation for voting purposes.” breach of judicial precedent. Landry said that if the maps were allowed, he would throw the state “into a divisive electoral feast” by throwing the electoral process into chaos, creating confusion across the state and undermining “confidence in the integrity of the upcoming congressional elections”. “It is impossible to draw a map without prioritizing race as the dominant factor in creating a second majority minority district, something that federal courts have warned Louisiana not to do in the past,” he told judges in court documents. Lawyers for the NAACP Louisiana State Conference rejected the idea that it was too close to the election to change the maps. In court documents, they reiterated Dick’s view that “a correctional plan by Congress can be implemented before the 2022 election without undue difficulty or risk of voter confusion.” In a separate dispute in February, a 5-4 Supreme Court upheld a congressional map designed by Alabama Republicans to remain in force, suspending a lower court ruling that blocked the map. The court will hear the arguments in this case on October 4. This story has been updated with additional details. CNN’s Melissa DePalo contributed to this report.
