Federal judges have directed state lawyers to determine whether the Legislature could draw up a new map in time for this year’s elections.
The order on Monday was spelled out in a federal court entry following a meeting of judges and attorneys involved in complex litigation over the racial makeup of the state’s congressional delegation.
The state currently has five white Republican House members and one Black member, a Democrat. All were elected most recently under a map the Legislature drew up in 2022.
A federal judge in Baton Rouge has said the 2022 map likely violated the federal Voting Rights Act by dividing many of the state’s Black residents—about a third of the population—among five districts. The Legislature responded with a map creating a new district crossing the state diagonally and linking Black populations from Shreveport in the northwest, Alexandria in the center and Lafayette and Baton Rouge in the south. A three-judge panel in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeal has thrown out that proposal.
The Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office, which runs the state’s elections, has said districts must be in place by May 15 to prepare for July’s candidate sign-up period and the fall elections.
State lawyers were given until Tuesday night to file a brief “explaining the feasibility of the Louisiana Legislature enacting a new Congressional map in time for the 2024 Congressional election” and “whether there is a legislative vehicle to enact a new congressional districting map during the 2024 regular session.” That session is going on now in Baton Rouge.
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