Louisiana suspends House primaries for May 16 following Supreme Court ruling, other races will go on scheduled

Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry said Thursday that the state will suspend its House primaries for the upcoming elections on May 16 in the wake of the Supreme Court striking down the state’s congressional map.

Landry said that while the U.S. House races will remain on voters’ ballots, “any votes cast in those races will not be counted.”

“Pursuant to 18:401.1(B), I have certified the emergency in light of the Supreme Court ruling. This is a mandatory step prior to the Governor issuing an executive order suspending the upcoming Louisiana U.S. House races,” Landry said in a statement on social media. 

Gov. Jeff Landry, who is not related to the secretary of state, signed an executive order Thursday suspending the House primaries until July 15, or “until such time as determined by the legislature.”

The order also encourages the Louisiana State Legislature to pass new congressional maps and schedule elections “as soon as practical.”

The other races, including the Senate primaries, are set to go on as planned, Nancy Landry said. She said her office will post notices at early voting sites. 

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling that found Louisiana mapmakers relied too heavily on race when they redrew the state’s voting boundaries to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. In a 6-3 decision authored by Justice Samuel Alito, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority found that compliance with Section 2 could not justify the state’s use of race in redrawing its House district lines.

Florida Republicans earlier this week approved a new congressional map pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had redrawn a Hispanic-minority district in central Florida. State attorneys also argued the recent Supreme Court ruling means provisions in the state’s Fair Districts Amendment are unconstitutional.