Latest on the state’s congressional map, who will for call the special session and when?

Governor John Bel Edwards on his monthly radio show "Ask the Governor" November 15, 2023.

Governor-elect Jeff Landry, who will be sworn in on January 8^th, said he plans to call a special session for lawmakers to draw a new court-ordered congressional map by January 15th. In the meantime, Governor John Bel Edwards is prepping for one if the deadline is not extended.

“I don’t know yet what’s going to happen, but it is not constitutionally possible for Jeff Landry after he’s sworn in, to call a session that could conclude its business in time to meet the January 15^th deadline,” said Edwards.

The courts have ruled the current congressional map violates the Voting Rights Act because it does not allow for the state’s one-third minority population to be represented with only one majority-Black district and that it must have two.

If the deadline is not extended Edwards said the only possible way to meet the court’s order is for him to call the legislature into session.

“So, I’m not saying that that’s what I’m going to do, because we’re going to see if there’s some guidance that comes out of the district court in the next several days that would tell us exactly how this is going to move forward,” said Edwards.

Edwards, who vetoed the congressional maps the legislature submitted to him twice, agreed with the courts that they were unconstitutional. Edwards believes the Secretary of State, Attorney General, Speaker, and Senate President can’t prevail on the merits of the current map…

“But they can try to delay because if they can delay the drawing of a new map long enough, then they get to run another election with a bad map,” said Edwards.

There are also other challenges if a session is called before Edwards leaves office; the current election cycle is not finalized, both chambers are undergoing renovations, the holidays and the current body of lawmakers failed twice to approve a map with a second majority-Black district.