Qualifying for the Congressional elections is next month and based on a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court this week, Louisiana will use the district map approved by the Legislature in February. What if the Supreme Court later rules the map is unconstitutional? ULM Political Science Professor Joshua Stockley says this fall’s election results will stand.
“And there have been numerous instances, actually both in Louisiana and across the nation, where maps have changed after somebody has been elected,” said Stockley.
Stockley says this is not the first time a Congressional District map drawn up by the Legislature needed the courts to determine if it was legal.
“We’ve seem to be in the forefront of these disputes in the 80s and the 90s, but in the last round we actually really civil and didn’t have this problem, so this has been actually the norm for Louisiana,” said Stockley.
The U.S. Supreme Court is also looking at Alabama’s Congressional map. Stockley says based on their recent rulings, he expects the court to rule that the maps drawn by Republican legislators do NOT violate the Voting Rights Act.
“I would be stunned if the U.S. Supreme Court overrules Alabama and Louisiana, if I were a betting man, I’m going to say the maps are likely going to stay in effect,” said Stockley.
Stockley says a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on Louisiana’ s map might not not come down until next summer.
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