politics
Supreme Court Allows Louisiana and Alabama to Use New Congressional Maps
The Supreme Court issued rulings that permit Louisiana and Alabama to redraw congressional districts, eliminating some majority-Black districts. The decisions, released less than three weeks before Louisiana's scheduled primary, prompted both states to postpone their primaries. The actions have drawn criticism from opponents who say the court is intervening in election matters close to voting.
May 13, 4:20 PM·2m read4 sources
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The Supreme Court has permitted Louisiana and Alabama to proceed with new congressional maps that will eliminate majority-Black districts held by Democrats. The court released its ruling on a Louisiana case less than three weeks before that state's congressional primary, after delaying action for more than a year.
Louisiana and Alabama are now moving back their primaries to reset their districts, and other states could follow. The rulings came in cases centered on the Voting Rights Act. The decisions allow the states to move forward with maps that had previously been blocked.
In Louisiana, some ballots had already been returned when the governor announced that House elections originally scheduled for May 16 would be suspended. In Alabama, primaries due to take place on May 19 will now be pushed back to August for the affected districts.
The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, granted special requests from both states to expedite the process. The changes will have national implications ahead of this year's midterm elections that will determine control of the House.
The rulings have prompted accusations that the Supreme Court is interfering in election cases when the process is already underway, despite its frequent admonitions to lower courts not to do so. A recent NBC News poll showed that confidence in the court is at an all-time low.
The court has also attracted criticism for its frequent rulings in favor of the Trump administration. "I don’t think you can see this as anything other than a raw exercise of power," a lawyer at the left-leaning Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law said in an interview.
"The court is effectively, whether they are trying to or not, playing an outsized role in this midterm election. It’s quite unfortunate they have chosen this path," he added.
