Louisiana Secretary Of State Pauses U.S. House Primary After April 29 Ruling
Louisiana secretary of state Jeff Landry paused the state’s U.S. House primary after the Supreme Court ruled on April 29 that the January 2024 congressional map was unconstitutional. The suspension affects six U.S. House districts and leaves other primary contests moving ahead this week.
Landry said on April 30, “Allowing elections to proceed under an unconstitutional map would undermine the integrity of our system and violate the rights of our voters.” He also said the order “ensures we uphold the rule of law while giving the [state] legislature the time it needs to pass a fair and lawful congressional map”.
Jeff Landry’s April 30 Order
The governor acted after the court’s ruling opened the door to redraw Louisiana’s congressional district map. The ruling came about two weeks before the state’s U.S. House primary elections were scheduled, creating a gap between the court decision and the vote that was supposed to follow.
Louisiana drew the January 2024 map to create a second Black-majority district. Before that map, the state had one Black-majority district out of six. When the map was challenged, Black residents made up one-third of Louisiana’s voters.
Louisiana State Senate Map
Republicans in the Louisiana State Senate advanced an initial redrawn map on Wednesday. That move keeps the focus on the legislature, which now has to finish a plan that can replace the map the court struck down.
For voters, the suspension means this week’s election calendar is split. Louisiana is still holding several primary elections, including races for the U.S. Senate, the state Supreme Court, and local offices, but not the U.S. House contests tied to the paused map.
Voting Groups Challenge Pause
A coalition of voting and civil rights groups challenged the suspension. The coalition said some voters, including those in the military or casting absentee ballots, may have already voted.
The group also said the abrupt date change would confuse voters and disenfranchise them, and that it would undermine voter education groups already distributing information about the election. For now, the state’s House primary remains tied to the legislature’s next map decision, not the original election schedule.
