A federal judge in Louisiana has invalidated the electoral maps for the state’s House and Senate seats, citing a violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and dilution of Black voter power. The decision comes from Federal District Judge Shelley Dick, who did not set a quota for the number of majority Black districts to be added in the redrawn maps but rather directed the state to provide a “reasonable amount of time” for this task.
Nairne v. Ardoin, the case that initiated this ruling, was filed in March 2022 and, due to its similarities with the case of Allen v. Milligan, had been delayed pending the U.S. Supreme Court’s verdict in the latter. After the Supreme Court confirmed that an Alabama map was in violation of the VRA, the Louisiana case proceeded to trial in November 2023.
The plaintiffs in the Louisiana case accused the state of “cracking” and “packing” districts to diminish the power of Black voters and to secure a Republican super-majority in the state legislature. Then-Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin defended the maps and questioned the constitutionality of Section 2 of the VRA. His objections, however, were dismissed on the grounds that they mirrored those rejected in the Allen case.
The ruling against Louisiana’s electoral maps is part of a broader trend of electoral disenfranchisement lawsuits in the Deep South, with similar cases seen in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and North Carolina.
As JURIST – News reports, the rest of Louisiana’s state electoral maps case awaits final determination and could have a significant impact on future voting rights cases.