Louisiana claims supreme court voting rights decision means it cannot carry out primaries with current electoral maps – live

Louisiana moved to postpone its May primaries on Thursday in a move that came as other southern states are also scrambling to redraw congressional districts in response to the supreme court’s Wednesday ruling that severely weakened the landmark Voting Rights Act.Before the supreme court’s decision, eliminating a key protection against racial discrimination in drawing voting maps, some states had already begun initiating processes to redraw districts and gut Black voting power. More states have now followed, with governors calling for special sessions to redraw congressional districts, potentially before the midterm elections in November.Louisiana governor Jeff Landry and attorney general Liz Murrill, both Republicans, said in a joint statement that the state can no longer use its current districts to carry out the primaries after the supreme court ruling. Early voting had been scheduled to begin Saturday in advance of the 16 May primary.“The State is currently enjoined from carrying out congressional elections under the current map,” Landry and Murrill said in the statement on social media Thursday. “We are working together with the Legislature and the Secretary of State’s office to develop a path forward.”On Wednesday, the US supreme court ruled that Louisiana will have to redraw its congressional map, in a landmark decision that effectively guts a major section of the Voting Rights Act.In a 6-3 decision along partisan lines, the court rendered ineffective section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the last remaining powerful provision of the 1965 civil rights law that prevents racial discrimination in voting. Section 2 has long been used to ensure minority voters are treated fairly in redistricting.“Allowing race to play any part in government decision-making represents a departure from the constitutional rule that applies in almost every other context,” Justice Samuel Alito, a conservative, wrote for the majority opinion. “Compliance with section 2 thus could not justify the state’s use of race-based redistricting here. The state’s attempt to satisfy the middle district’s ruling, although understandable, was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.”The court’s decision is a major upheaval in US civil rights law and gives lawmakers permission to draw districting plans that weaken the influence of Black and other minority voters.Here’s more of that statement from Louisiana attorney general Liz Murrill and Republican governor Jeff Landry:double quotation markYesterday’s historic Supreme Court victory for Louisiana has an immediate consequence for the State. The Supreme Court previously stayed an injunction against the State’s enforcement of the current Congressional map. By the Court’s order, however, that stay automatically terminated with yesterday’s decision. Accordingly, the State is currently enjoined from carrying out congressional elections under the current map. We are working together with the Legislature and the Secretary of State’s office to develop a path forward.Louisiana moved to postpone its May primaries on Thursday in a move that came as other southern states are also scrambling to redraw congressional districts in response to the supreme court’s Wednesday ruling that severely weakened the landmark Voting Rights Act.Before the supreme court’s decision, eliminating a key protection against racial discrimination in drawing voting maps, some states had already begun initiating processes to redraw districts and gut Black voting power. More states have now followed, with governors calling for special sessions to redraw congressional districts, potentially before the midterm elections in November.Louisiana governor Jeff Landry and attorney general Liz Murrill, both Republicans, said in a joint statement that the state can no longer use its current districts to carry out the primaries after the supreme court ruling. Early voting had been scheduled to begin Saturday in advance of the 16 May primary.“The State is currently enjoined from carrying out congressional elections under the current map,” Landry and Murrill said in the statement on social media Thursday. “We are working together with the Legislature and the Secretary of State’s office to develop a path forward.”