(NewsNation) — The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments over whether a disputed Louisiana congressional map that includes two Black-majority districts should be redrawn.
The court announced Monday it will consider the appeal of a lower court decision in January, meaning that Tuesday’s general election will use the state’s current map. The Associated Press reported the current map favors Democrats, especially in the party’s efforts to take control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Supreme Court ordered Louisiana to use its current map for the election in May. A three-judge panel previously ruled Louisiana’s current map sorted voters primarily on race, a practice known as racial gerrymandering.
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The changes to the map continued to reflect five white districts that lean Republican and only one Black-majority district even though nearly a third of Louisiana’s population is Black, the AP reported.
CBS News reported that the upcoming Supreme Court hearing will be at least the third time that the congressional map has been legally challenged since voting lines were drawn out following the 2020 census.
A federal district court ruled that the map, which was drawn by Republican lawmakers, likely violated parts of the federal Voting Rights Act that prohibits election practices that deny certain residents the right to vote based on race.
The second Black-majority district begins in the northwest corner of the state near Shreveport and extends 250 miles toward Baton Rouge, Scotusblog.com stated.
However, the current map was legally challenged by a group of voters who describe themselves as “non-African American,” Scotusblog.com reported. The lawsuit states that the map violates the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment and discriminates against the group, NBC News reported.
According to the lawsuit, the state’s purpose in drawing out the map was intended to segregate voters based entirely on their races and create two majority-Black voting districts and four majority-non-Black districts without regard for any traditional redistricting criteria.
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The AP reported that two state congressional maps have been blocked by lower courts over the past two years and that the U.S. Supreme Court has weighed in on both occasions.
Louisana Solicitor General Benjamin Aguiñaga wrote in court filings that the state is “stuck in an endless game of ping-pong” that needs to be resolved, according to NBC News.
The Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that the map, including two Black-majority districts, would be used in elections moving forward. While the court will hear arguments in the case in January, a ruling is not expected until sometime next summer, according to The Hill.
