Why Louisiana could have a new congressional map in time for 2024

A panel of three judges on the conservative-dominated 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has given Louisiana's heavily Republican legislature until Jan. 15 to draw a new congressional map with a second district where Black voters could elect their preferred candidate, who would almost certainly be a Black Democrat.

The appellate judges agreed with a lower court that Republican mapmakers likely violated the Voting Rights Act when they enacted a congressional map after the 2020 census with just one majority-Black district instead of two. However, Republicans are unlikely to draw a compliant map, since they're claiming that the relevant part of the VRA is unconstitutional in a separate lawsuit challenging their legislative maps.

Aware of this possibility, the 5th Circuit said that if lawmakers fail to act, the lower court should proceed with a trial in time to implement a new map ahead of the 2024 elections. Although it didn't set a firm timeline, the panel referenced the defense counsel's suggestion of a Feb. 15 start date for a trial and a May 30 deadline for a new map to be adopted to allow sufficient time before the July 19 candidate filing deadline.