Supreme Court Tosses Louisiana’s Voting Districts, Governor Possibly Suspends Primary Election

The Supreme Court voted Wednesday to declare the Bayou State’s congressional map as unconstitutional, giving an unfair advantage to minority communities. The opinion ruled 6-3 and undermines a civil-rights era law. Gov. Jeff Landry plans to suspend the May 16th Primary election so lawmakers can redraw voting districts, The Washington Post reports.

Here’s what to know:

• The ruling strikes down on a majority Black congressional district in Louisiana.
• Minority communities will have a harder time combating redistricting and electing officials, opening the door for GOP to control the House.
• Republicans could gain one to two seats from this decision.
• The decision weakens the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which aids minority representation in Congress.
• If the primary is suspended, voters will have to visit the poles just weeks or months apart.
• Before the ruling, several states were making moves to combat the decision including Illinois, Florida, Missippi, Alabama and Tennessee.

“All you have now is the theory that you have to trust people who are in power to do things that are in the best interest of those who are not,” said CNN’s Chief Legal Analyst Laura Coates. “And, I don’t know about you guys, I don’t know when that’s happened.”

The effects of the ruling may not be felt by the country until 2028; however, Louisiana may have to change its redistricting plan soon to comply with the decision, the Associated Press reported.

Landry’s official announcement could come as early as Friday, only one day before early voting begins.

The Louisiana vs. Callais Dilemma

The news today is a decision from a seminal redistricting case argued on October 15th, 2025, which focuses on the constitutionality of Louisiana’s congressional map.

The map, known as SB 8, had two majority-Black voting districts, which fulfilled a requirement of the Voting Rights Act. The issue at hand was how the additional district violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th and 15th amendment.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote the opinion which will allegedly dilute any political power from minority communities. Over the next couple of years, other states could follow in these footsteps to eliminate majority Black or Latino districts, CNN reported.

The Voting Rights Act “did not require Louisiana to create an additional majority-minority district, no compelling interest justified the State’s use of race in creating SB8, and that map is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander,” according to the case appeal.

Lyden B. Johnson’s “Triumph for Freedom;” the Voting Rights Act

This law was a follow-up to the Legislation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and outlawed discriminatory voting practices in the South. It became unconstitutional to give poll taxes and literary tests, which were used as a prerequisite for only Black voters.

Amidst the peaceful demonstrations and protests championed by Black activists, former President Johnson signed the legislation into law.

The act is a momentous part of civil rights legislation in the United States and single-handedly changed the relationship between federal and state governments following the Civil War. After the law was passed, a quarter of a million new Black voters had been registered and the act was readopted in 1970, 1975 and 1982, according to the National Archives.