Vidya Sethuraman
India Post News Service
Louisiana, like Alabama, only had one Black majority Congressional district until a federal court ruled the maps proposed by the state legislature following the 2020 census were racial gerrymanders. Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Allen v. Milligan, the Louisiana legislature eventually adopted a new map with two Black majority districts. On March 24 the Supreme Court will hear a Louisiana redistricting case which is pivotal to the fight for fair representation. The Louisiana case now presents the next major test in this ongoing legal battle.
In 2022, the District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana ruled during a preliminary hearing that the map may have violated the VRA and ordered the state Legislature to redraw the districts. However, the state Legislature failed to amend the map as required, causing the case to go to appeals, while Alabama’s Milligan case went to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Alabama must redraw districts to increase representation of black voters. The ruling sets the legal foundation for the Louisiana case to be revived on appeal.
Victoria Wenger, Counsel at NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) explained the impact of this case on national and local elections. She said: “This is federal law and involves constitutional rights.” In the case of Louisiana redistricting, it is about congressional seats and involves the interests of tens of thousands of people. People are watching the Supreme Court’s decision in the case, which could affect gerrymandering in any state, county, city or school district in the United States.
Wenger said that this case will not only affect other pending district delineation disputes, but also affect local elections across the United States, meaning whether minorities have a better chance of electing elected officials who represent their interests. In 2020, according to a census, the state’s African-American population was growing and accounted for about one-third of the total population. The state has six congressional seats. In the 2022 constituency planning, only one of the six constituencies has a majority African-American minority population. A federal district court ruled that the district planning violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits electoral procedures that deny or dilute the right to vote because of race.
Alanah Odoms, Executive Director, American Civil Liberties Union-Louisiana (ACLU-LA) said, “Only by fighting can we have the possibility of winning.” The right to vote needs to be fought for generation after generation. We have a responsibility and we are ready.
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