Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed a Republican-backed congressional map Wednesday night.
The Democratic governor expressed concerns that the map did not grant minority voters adequate representation and called on the Legislature to go back to the drawing board.
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“Today, after careful consideration, review, discussion with legislators, and consultation with voting rights experts,” Edwards said in a statement. “This map is simply not fair to the people of Louisiana and does not meet the standards set forth in the Federal Voting Rights Act. The legislature should immediately begin the work of drawing a map that ensures Black voices can be properly heard in the voting booth.”
The congressional map makes minor adjustments to the state’s district lines and would likely preserve the Republicans’ 5–1 congressional delegation in the state. But Democrats have argued that the state’s 33% black population deserves another district and more representation in Congress. If the congressional delegation was proportional to the state’s demographic breakdown, there would be two black-majority districts. Louisiana kept its seat count following the most recent census so the new district would have to cut into the Republican seat count in the state.
The Republican-backed Legislature passed its map last month. The state Senate passed the map with a veto-proof majority, but the state House was several votes shy of a veto-proof majority. Top Republicans involved in the redistricting efforts such as state Sen. Sharon Hewitt defended the original maps and hinted at a possible attempt at a veto override.
“I am disappointed in the Governor’s decision to veto the congressional map & am confident that the map the legislature passed meets the requirements of the Voting Rights Act. I look forward to the debate on a veto override,” she tweeted.
Despite coming up short of a veto-proof majority in the House when they passed the map last month, Republicans previously managed to secure a veto-proof majority with a prior version of the map. The current map was the product of a compromise between competing maps from the state House and Senate.
Seven Republicans either voted against the compromise map or were not present for the vote, according to FiveThirtyEight. Several Democrats were also absent during that vote as well. If Republicans succeed in overriding Edwards’s veto, top Democrats have signaled they will challenge the map in court.
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Edwards also announced that he will not sign state House and Senate maps passed during a recent redistricting session. He cited similar concerns to the congressional maps, arguing they did not properly boost minority representation. But his move allows the legislative maps to become law without his approval. The governor expressed concerns that nixing the legislative maps would distract the Legislature from “the important work of the state of Louisiana.”
This latest skirmish prolongs Louisiana’s status as one of four states without legally binding congressional maps alongside Florida, Missouri, and New Hampshire, according to FiveThirtyEight.
