Louisiana lawmakers reject redistricting plan with more majority Black districts

Yahoo

5 days ago

The Louisiana Capitol Building, April 8, 2021. (Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator).
A Louisiana legislative committee has killed two bills that would have added eight new majority Black districts to the state House and Senate.
The author of the proposals, Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus Chairman Rep. Edmond Jordan, D-Baton Rouge, argued the maps are necessary because a federal judge has ruled the current state legislative maps, adopted in 2022, violate the federal Voting Rights Act. Attorney General Liz Murrill has appealed that decision on the state's behalf, and the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has yet to issue a decision.
House Bill 487, which redistricts the Senate, was killed on a party-line 9-6 vote with Republicans prevailing. House Bill 488, the new House of Representative district map, fell in a 9-5 vote, again along party lines. The votes mean Louisiana will not update its legislative maps in the current legislative session, though they have the opportunity to do so in a future session.
'By us not upholding our obligation and redrawing these maps … I think it sends a signal that we are unwilling to do so,' Jordan said. 'Rather than wait on the court to come up with a decision, I think it's incumbent upon us to get ahead of that and maybe draw these maps and show the court that we're willing to comply with Section 2' of the Voting Rights Act.
The section Jordan cited prohibits voter discrimination based on a person's race, color or membership in a language minority group. Republicans have argued Section 2 is outdated, as it has served its purpose to dismantle Jim Crow-era laws.
Although a third of Louisianians are Black, less than a third of state legislative districts have majority Black populations. The redistricting plan adopted in 2022 maintained the same number of majority Black districts from the previous redistricting cycle, based on 2010 Census demographics, even though the percentage of the state's Black population has increased in the interim.
Republicans on the committee repeatedly pointed out that the case is still on appeal and indicated they were optimistic courts may rule in the state's favor.
Lawmakers also expressed concern that Jordan's plan put upwards of 20 incumbent lawmakers outside of their existing district, meaning they would either have to move to maintain residency in their current districts or run against another incumbent to return to the legislature.
Jordan said that while he considered incumbency, his primary concern was giving Black voters an opportunity to elect candidates of their choice.
'What we're trying to do is attempt to unpack and uncrack these districts so that they would comply with Section 2,' Jordan said
Packing is a type of gerrymandering that forces a large number of voters from one group into a single or small number of districts to weaken their power in other districts. Cracking dilutes the power of those voters into many districts.
Jordan's plan would have added new majority Black House districts in Natchitoches, Lake Charles, Shreveport and Baton Rouge, and Black Senate districts in Baton Rouge, Shreveport and Jefferson Parish.
Republican lawmakers expect the 5th Circuit to wait to release an opinion on the legislative maps until after the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on Louisiana's current congressional district boundaries, as the decision might create new precedent.
In the congressional redistricting case, non-Black voters are suing the state over a map lawmakers passed last year that created a second majority Black district, arguing it violated their constitutional rights. The Supreme Court decision is expected later next month.
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