One day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana’s congressional map is unconstitutional, Gov. Jeff Landry declared an election emergency and suspended primary elections for the state’s six U.S. House seats, just two days before early voting was set to begin.
In an executive order, Landry said that the state had little choice, because “electing members to Congress under an unconstitutional map flies in the face of the United States Constitution.”
“This executive order ensures we uphold the rule of law while giving the Legislature the time it needs to pass a fair and lawful congressional map,” Landry said.
A three-judge panel on the Western District federal court, where the lawsuit was originally filed, buttressed that point in an order issued late Thursday, in which it said the state could not use the current maps.
But some election lawyers say it’s not clear that Louisiana was right to delay the congressional primary, since changing the election date will confuse voters, and there are more procedural steps in the Supreme Court case.
“The primary is already underway,” said Michael Li, a redistricting expert and senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice.
Mail ballots were already sent to voters who are overseas or in the military, and people in Louisiana voting by mail have already begun to cast ballots, he said.
In East Baton Rouge Parish, for example, ballots were sent to military and overseas voters on March 25 and to all other absentee voters on April 8, according to data from the registrar of voters there. And 4,364 voted ballots have already been returned in that parish.
Sarah Brannon, an ACLU voting-rights lawyer and attorney on the team representing Black litigants in the Supreme Court case, echoed Li.
“People have already cast their ballots,” she said. “It is extremely chaotic and confusing to try and change the rules of the election in the middle of an ongoing election.”
Brannon also noted that congressional candidates have already formally qualified for the race.
“The most equitable thing to do for voters and candidates who are already participating in this process is to allow the election to continue,” she said.
Both Brannon and Li said there have been many redistricting cases where voting maps have been struck down by a court close to an election, and the map is used for the upcoming election but altered for future ones.
“This is not uncommon in redistricting cases where there’s rulings about maps, and the changes don’t always get implemented immediately,” Brannon said.
The process
On Thursday, Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill said Louisiana is “enjoined from carrying out congressional elections under the current map.”
A lower court had already ruled the current map was unconstitutional and blocked Louisiana from using it, but that decision had been put on hold until the Supreme Court could weigh in. The Supreme Court’s decision means that earlier ruling blocking the map is now in effect, Murrill and Landry argued.
But Brannon said whether Louisiana must use a different map for the 2026 midterms is “unresolved.”
The Supreme Court’s opinion Wednesday is “not an order or an injunction” blocking use of the map, nor does it include guidance on immediate next steps, Brannon said.
“There are some procedural steps that need to take place,” she said. “That procedural process has not occurred yet.”
Still at issue is when the high court will issue a certified judgment, which “would have more legal impact,” Brannon said.
The White plaintiffs in the case on Wednesday quickly asked the Supreme Court to immediately issue a certified copy of its judgment.
They argue the lower court has to either approve a new map passed by the Legislature or draw a new map itself, and because elections will be held in either the coming days or months, “time is of the essence.”
The Black litigants in the case Thursday afternoon opposed the plaintiffs’ request, arguing that the court should allow them 25 days to consider asking for a rehearing.
They are also asking the court to hold off on issuing its judgment until the 2026 elections are complete.
Louisiana in court filings on Thursday said the state believes the Supreme Court opinion automatically triggered a prohibition on using the current map.
“The Governor and Attorney General are thus working with the Legislature—which is in session until June 1—to immediately produce a constitutional map and electoral process for Louisiana,” Louisiana’s filing says. “They do not view their ability to do so as contingent upon when this Court transmits its opinion and judgment.”
