BATON ROUGE, La. — Loyola Law Professor Dane Ciolino says Louisiana is caught in a collision at the intersection of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
“The Secretary of State just needs some clear direction from the Supreme Court as to which map to use,” Ciolino said.
A decision by a federal three-judge panel from the Western District of Louisiana said upcoming elections cannot use the recently adopted congressional map that includes a second majority-black district.
The court ruled in favor of a lawsuit filed by a group of 12, “non-african American” voters which argued the new map constitutes a racial gerrymander.
The new district cuts across the center of the state from Shreveport to Baton Rouge.
Ciolino says under the Voting Rights Act, race can be a factor just not the predominant factor when drawing district boundaries.
“Other factors have to play a significant role. Things like contiguity, things like identity of interests.”
The state has now petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to suspend, or stay, the judges’ order.
“According to the state’s brief if nothing happens it will be forced to use the map that was adopted by the legislature in HB1 some years ago which a federal district judge in Baton Rouge has already found violates the Voting Rights Act,” Ciolino said
That map includes five white majority and one majority-black districts.
Election officials say they need the congressional map to be finalized by this Wednesday, May 15, so candidates can qualify for the fall election in June.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.