Judges ask whether lawmakers could draw up new House map in time for this year’s elections

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Federal judges who threw out a congressional election map giving Louisiana a second mostly Black district told state lawyers Monday to determine whether the Legislature could draw up a new map in time for this year’s elections.

The order 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 group of self-identified non-African American voters filed suit against that map, saying it was unconstitutionally drawn up with race as the main factor. That suit was filed in western Louisiana. A three-judge panel heard arguments and ruled 2-1 against the map.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«READ MORE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> READ MORE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> For a Louisiana lawmaker, exempting incest and rape from the state’s abortion ban is personal </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline