Supreme Court Ruling Could Give Louisiana Second Majority-Black Voting District

The U.S. Supreme Court allowed a case concerning Louisiana’s House map to continue Monday with a review by a lower court ahead of next year’s elections.

The ruling raises the likelihood that state lawmakers will have to draw a second majority-Black Congressional district. ABC News reports a district judge initially ruled the House map, which was passed over Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ veto, violated the Voting Rights Act and ordered a second majority-Black district be created within the state’s six districts.

That ruling was appealed by Louisiana’s top election official, Republican Kyle Ardoin, who has been fighting accusations that state Republicans are suppressing Black voters in Louisiana. Despite the ruling, Louisiana Assistant Attorney General Angelique Freel told ABC News she will continue to fight to establish its original maps.

“Our job is to defend what the Legislature passed, and we trust the 5th Circuit will review the merits in accordance with the law,” said Freel.

The 5th Circuit is viewed as largely conservative and may not uphold the High Court’s ruling, but that didn’t stop Democrats from celebrating the decision.

“Today’s Supreme Court order means the people of Louisiana are one step closer to achieving fair representation in Congress that better reflects the state’s diversity and reaffirms that the voices of Black voters matter,” Washington Rep. Suzan DelBene, the chair of House Democrats’ campaign arm, said in a statement, according to NBC News.

Bel Edwards added he’s confident the state will create a fair map that will support Black voters.

“Louisiana can and should have a congressional map that represents our voting population, which is one-third Black. As I have consistently stated, this is about simple math, basic fairness, and the rule of law,” Edwards said in a statement. “I am confident we will have a fair map in the near future.”

Similar situations are happening in Southern states, which have a long history of suppressing Black voters dating back to Jim Crow Laws in the 1870s.

In a separate case, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that Alabama’s House map puts too many Black residents into one congressional district, which dilutes their power relative to their share of the state population.