BATON ROUGE, La. — The Louisiana House and Senate quickly voted to override Gov. John Bel Edwards’ veto of a new congressional District map Wednesday afternoon.
The 72-31 House vote went nearly down party lines, with all three independents and one democrat (Rep. Francis Thompson) joining the entire republican delegation in voting to override the Governor’s veto.
In the Louisiana Senate, the 27-11 vote fell strictly along party lines with all republicans voting to override and all democrats voting against.
The new congressional map will now face legal challenges from opponents. It will be up to the courts to decide if the maps are up to snuff or if legislators should have added a second majority-Black district.
Legislatures passed the controversial map during a special session in February. The map was approved despite objections from member of the Black Legislative Caucus, who argued that a state where one-third of the population is Black should have two majority-Black districts out of the six total.
The Governor agreed, vetoing the map in early March.
Gov. Edwards will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 30, the address the veto.
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