Gov. John Bel Edwards has called a special session of Louisiana’s Legislature to redraw Louisiana’s Congressional district maps with two majority Black districts, as required by yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.

“The Middle District’s ruling yesterday that the Congressional maps drawn by Louisiana’s Legislature earlier this year violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is correct and completely unsurprising, which is why I vetoed these maps originally. It is imperative that the Louisiana Legislature come to Baton Rouge to redraw these maps quickly and fairly, in compliance with the judge’s order and before the fall elections,”Edwards said.
“Louisiana’s congressional map of six districts needs to contain at least two majority African American districts in order to be fair to Louisiana’s voting population, which is one-third Black voters, per the latest U.S. Census data. This is required by simple math, basic fairness and the rule of law.”

The Special Session will begin on June 15 and must adjourn by 6 p.m. on June 20.