The Supreme Court Has Restored A Voting Map In Louisiana. Here's Why That's A Win For Black Voters
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court made the decision to restore a congressional voting map in Louisiana—and it’s a win for Black voters. The restoration occurred less than six months before the November presidential election.
This comes as an answer to emergency appeals filed after a federal three-judge panel in Louisiana discarded a newly redrawn map last month, ruling it was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
Their actions left the state without a congressional voting map heading into a 2024 presidential election that willdetermine which party controls the House. Shockingly, conservatives on the court were in favor of reinstating the map with two Black-majority districts.
Liberal judge Ketanji Brown Jackson expressed concern over how quickly the matter was handled and that the court had more time to determine the right map for Louisiana.
She wrote that the “question of how to elect representatives consistent with our shared commitment to racial equality is among the most consequential we face as a democracy.” Ultimately, she objected to the Supreme Court now getting involved.
The high court faced pressure from Louisiana officials, who stated that they needed to know by Wednesday what map would be decided in order for them to correctly run the election.
The ruling will allow appeals to continue and may decide whether the map with two majority-Black districts should be used for elections in 2026 as well as even further down the line.
Back in 2020, the redistricting battle began when Republicans drew new congressional maps to supposedly reflect population change but would disempower the Black voters that make up a third of the electorate.
The court decided it probably violated the Voting Rights Act. Now, the legislature’s newly approved map this year created a second majority-Black district that favors Democrats and runs diagonally Louisiana from Shreveport to Baton Rouge.
