BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The clock is ticking for legislators as they look to wrap up the redistricting session. Some lawmakers are making a final stand to get the Louisiana Supreme Court map redrawn after 25 years.
Multiple maps for the Supreme Court districts have made their way out of the House committee Wednesday and head on to the full House floor for debate. Three of the maps looked to create a second majority-minority district.
The three maps challenged the leadership’s map for the seven districts of the state supreme court. Throughout the session, there has been debate on if lawmakers violate the Voting Rights Act by not attempting to draw a majority-minority district if it is at all possible. GOP members who are carrying the bills have repeatedly said two districts do have a high enough number of Black people voting to work.
“To comply with Section two it’s 50 plus one, regardless of if minorities are able to elect a candidate of their choice or not,” Rep. Barry Ivey said.
Rep. Barry Ivey, a Baton Rouge Republican, created a map for the court that creates two districts with percentages over 53%. Sen. Sharon Hewitt’s bill does not and maintains a map fairly similar to the current one that was court-ordered 25 years ago. She said the Voting Rights Act says there has to be equal opportunity and low voter turnout does not create that opportunity.
“That is what’s going to be litigated, of course, that is their standard for a definition of a minority 50% plus one equal opportunity that’s not necessarily 50% plus one,“ said Sen. Hewitt.
Some believe the legality of keeping only one should be decided by the courts later — others want to address it now.
“History is repeating itself. That we are absolutely content with allowing the courts to make the decision and ultimately make us do what we can do, what’s been demonstrated mathematically, agnostically, what can be done,” Rep. Ivey said.
Advocates have been pushing to increase minority voices for the court to have more perspectives in the interpretation of the law.
“When communities quote-unquote, don’t perform. It’s almost always because they say, ‘My vote doesn’t matter,’” said Peter Robins-Brown, executive director of Louisiana Progress.
The Senate leadership has said they want to wrap up the session a few days early, which could be a nail in the coffin for the court maps. Lawmakers have until Sunday to pass the last of their maps and send them on up to the governor. When it comes to the Supreme Court district maps, you need a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and the Senate.
Rep. Ivey’s bill was tabled against his wishes by the House in the middle of the debate. After the vote determined his map would go no further in the session he gave an impassioned speech over his frustrations with the legislature.
“We’ll just continue to get by here in Louisiana because we are too stupid to work together,” Rep. Ivey said.
He talked about how with his map he attempted to do what he called “the right thing” by evening out the population of the Supreme Court district map and creating another minority district. Rep. Ivey said that without changes in the state, such as increasing minority representation, children will continue to leave the state.
“We don’t want to make a judge upset. Heaven forbid we actually allow a person to elect a candidate of their choice… We don’t debate issues. We have everything preplanned and organized,” Rep. Ivey said.
After his speech led to some representatives angrily shouting from their desks as he wrapped up. Rep. Lance Harris took to the stand and talked about how bills being shot down like that is part of the process.
“Life does not give you what you want. It gives you what you deserve,” Rep. Harris said.
That comment led to an uproar the Speaker had to calm down with a point of order. Immediately after the chamber adjourned until Thursday.
