RELEASE:Gov. Edwards Vetoes Congressional Maps & Allows State Legislative Maps, Even Though They All Violate the Same Legal & Moral Standards

By vetoing the congressional maps passed by the Louisiana Legislature, Gov. Edwards stood on the side of fairness and equity. But by allowing the state legislative maps to go into effect, he ignored those same principles.  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE–March 9, 2022

BATON ROUGE, LA | March 9, 2022—Despite the fact that the 2020 U.S. Census showed an increase in Louisiana’s Black population and a decrease in its white population, the Louisiana Legislature passed new maps during the recent redistricting special session that didn’t increase Black political representation. 

This evening, Gov. Edwards provided a mixed response to that inequitable outcome by vetoing the congressional map, but allowing the state Senate and House maps to go into effect without his signature, and signing into law maps for the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) and the Public Service Commission.

“We applaud Governor Edwards’s decision to veto the congressional map, but we are deeply disappointed that he allowed the state legislative maps to go into effect,” said Peter Robins-Brown, executive director of Louisiana Progress. “The same reasons the Governor cited for vetoing the congressional plan also applied to the state legislative plans. For the sake of intellectual, legal, and moral consistency, he should have vetoed them too.”

Throughout Louisiana’s history, Black communities have been significantly underrepresented in the state’s political bodies, including in its U.S. congressional delegation and state legislature. The congressional and state legislative maps that have been in effect for the past decade are perfect examples of that underrepresentation. 

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, more than 30 percent of the state’s population was Black, yet only 16.6 percent of our congressional districts are majority-minority and approximately 25 percent of the state legislative districts are majority-minority. 

This year, the legislature had a chance to remedy that underrepresentation. Instead, a majority of the body opted to maintain the status quo. Their decisions violated the federal Voting Rights Act.

“The problems with the congressional and legislative maps went beyond racial inequality,” Robins-Brown added. “The new maps–and the current ones, for that matter–are also almost entirely non-competitive. They lock in ‘safe’ seats, where it will be very difficult for voters to hold incumbents or political parties accountable. That lack of competition leads to increasingly polarized, stagnant politics, which only benefits the wealthy elites who have traditionally dominated Louisiana’s political system.”

Louisiana Progress urges the legislature to do the right thing by passing a more equitable congressional map during the upcoming regular legislative session. We also hope to see the courts remedy the inequitable legislative maps by siding with plaintiffs who will file lawsuits, and then drawing new maps that increase the number of majority-minority districts and competitive districts.  

Who: Louisiana Progress 

What: Louisiana Progress statement on Governor Edwards’s actions on political maps

When: March 9, 2022

Contact: 

Peter Robins-Brown, Executive Director, Louisiana Progress, (504) 256-8196, peter@louisianaprogress.org