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Louisiana Suspends May House Primaries After Supreme Court Strikes Down Map

Louisiana Suspends May House Primaries After Supreme Court Strikes Down Map
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Louisiana’s May 16 U.S. House primaries were thrown into chaos this week after Gov. Jeff Landry said he would suspend the contests in response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down the state’s congressional map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.reuters +1 The move, confirmed by top state officials Thursday, will delay voting for six House seats just days before early ballots were set to be cast and after overseas voters had already received theirs.nbcnews

The announcement followed the court’s 6–3 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais on April 29, which invalidated the 2024 map that created a second majority-Black district and sent the case back to a lower court.ms Black residents make up about one-third of Louisiana’s population, but the state’s current delegation is four Republicans and two Democrats; the now-struck map had helped elect Democratic Rep. Cleo Fields in the new majority-Black seat.cnn +1

Legal Shockwave From Supreme Court to Baton Rouge

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority held that the 2024 map relied too heavily on race, with Justice Samuel Alito writing that “allowing race to play any part in government decision-making” departs from normal constitutional rules.ms The decision narrowed how Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act can be used to justify majority-minority districts, alarming voting-rights advocates and prompting Justice Elena Kagan to warn in dissent that the law was now “all but a dead letter.”ms +1

Within hours, Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill said the state was “currently enjoined from carrying out congressional elections under the current map” and pledged to work with lawmakers and the secretary of state “to develop a path forward.”nbcnews Republican leaders, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, argued the governor “had no choice” but to suspend primaries until a new map is drawn, framing the delay as a necessary step to comply with federal law rather than a partisan maneuver.cnn

Voter Confusion, Ballot Chaos and New Fights Ahead

Election officials must now untangle what to do with ballots already mailed to overseas and absentee voters and how to treat any early votes received before a formal suspension takes effect.reuters +1 Secretary of State Nancy Landry said her office was still reviewing the ruling and the state’s options, including whether to delay only the congressional contests or to move the entire May primary, a choice that could force some voters back to the polls twice.fox8live

Democrats and civil-rights advocates warned the abrupt change would sow “mass confusion among voters — Democrats, Republicans, white, Black, everybody,” as state Sen. Royce Duplessis put it, accusing Republicans of “changing the rules of the game in the middle of the game.”nbcnews Rep. Fields noted that “people have already voted,” underscoring the likelihood of legal challenges from candidates and voters who argue the suspension disenfranchises those ballots or unfairly reshapes the electorate.nbcnews Legal scholars said a postponement is not clearly illegal but predicted intense litigation over both the timing and content of whatever new map the Legislature produces.reuters

The Bigger Picture

Louisiana’s scramble highlighted the national stakes of the Callais ruling, which could embolden other Republican-led states to revisit congressional lines ahead of the 2026 midterms and beyond.cnn +1 With the Supreme Court further constraining race-conscious redistricting and a key Southern state freezing its House primaries days before voting, the battle over who draws the maps — and when elections can proceed — is poised to become as central to control of Congress as the campaigns themselves.