Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Race-Tinged Louisiana Electoral Dispute

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The justices ruled in May that the state should move forward with this year’s elections but put off a decision on whether to hear the case until now.

The Supreme Court decided on Nov. 4 to hear a racial gerrymandering case from Louisiana.

Gerrymandering is the manipulation of electoral district boundaries to favor a particular party or constituency.

The case will not be heard in time for the Nov. 5 presidential and congressional elections.

The cases is actually two cases—Louisiana v. Callais and Robinson v. Callais—which the court has ordered will be heard together.

The court’s new decision came in the form of an unsigned order with comment. No justices dissented.

The court voted on May 15 to direct Louisiana to use a disputed congressional map that creates a second black-majority district in the state in this year’s elections. Three justices dissented.

Opponents of the redistricting plan said it discriminates against non-black voters, but Louisiana’s Republican secretary of state, Nancy Landry, said not moving forward with the map so close to this year’s elections would cause “chaos.”

The Supreme Court’s order stayed an April 30 order issued by a panel of federal judges in the Western District of Louisiana, which found that the map could not be used in upcoming elections.

The justices are expected to hear the Louisiana case early in the new year.

This is a breaking story. Updates will follow.