ABBEVILLE, La. (KLFY) -- The battle over Abbeville's district map continues. This comes amid a years-long federal lawsuit filed against the city council. The lawsuit, filed by the Vermilion NAACP and Southern Poverty Law Center, claims the city's current map does not give white and black voters equal voting powers.

The city council planned to adopt either their own proposed map, or a map proposed by the Vermilion NAACP Tuesday evening. Instead, the council voted to table the vote until the next meeting to rework their own map.

"Before I get upset, I'm going to walk out of here because what you are saying is a lie," one Abbeville resident said, storming out of the meeting, upset by the mayor's comments after a presentation by the NAACP attorney.

"The district lines should be drawn by us, by our own elected, municipal legislature, not by some outside firm with no real stake in our community," Abbeville Mayor Roslyn White read from a prepared statement.

The mayor made it clear she wants the city's own attorneys, engineers and officials to create the new district map, as opposed to adopting the map created by the NAACP attorney.

"You don't live in Abbeville, right? I doubt you stepped foot in Abbeville before 2022," Mayor White said. "This council is capable of doing the job they were elected to do."

After the meeting, other Abbeville residents and Vermilion NAACP members voiced their frustration that it's taking the city council years to make a decision.

"That's crazy. You're spending money from the city. Why not do the right thing from the beginning? What's wrong with these council people? It doesn't make any sense. They're not using their brains. Use your brain!" Vermilion NAACP Secretary Marilyn Mitchell said. "The man got the maps right. I don't care if he's from New Orleans. He's just representing the city."

"Even though our attorney may be from New Orleans or whatever the case may be, that should have no reflection as to his not being from Abbeville. That has nothing to do with nothing at all," Vermilion NAACP President Linda Williams Cockrell added.

SPLC and NAACP attorney Ahmed Soussi says their proposed map unpacks the districts when it comes to black voters. He says the city's proposed map does not.

"We're happy they didn't pass their map. We've shown objectively on hard numbers that it's not a proportional map. It does not create equal representation, and it still packs black voters," Soussi told said.

The city council's time to decide on a map is running out. They must submit an approved map to the Secretary of State by Dec. 17.

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