As The South Votes, Episode 2. What gerrymandering looks like in the South—and what we can do about it before it’s too late.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NBC) – With midterms just over a month away, the Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments on a case involving the Alabama electoral map and redistricting that could negatively impact Black voters in the state. Tuesday’s arguments present a test for the conservative-leaning court with more voting rights cases to come. This case could ultimately weaken the landmark …

With midterm elections only a few weeks away, political groups on and off campus are working to mobilize student voters — a demographic that saw historic levels of voter turnout in the 2020 election.  Margaret Easley, vice president of Tulane College Democrats, said the group aims to get people registered to vote for upcoming elections and make sure they have all the …

WASHINGTON — About 100 Louisiana students gathered Tuesday in the plaza in front of the U.S. Supreme Court as the nine justices considered whether Alabama’s congressional election maps meet the standards of the Voting Rights Act — a case that’s nearly identical to one from Louisiana.

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — On Tuesday, The U.S. Supreme Court took up the case of the congressional maps for Alabama, which will have major implications for the Voting Rights Act and Louisiana’s case that awaits a hearing. Advocates rallied at the state capitol to push for a second majority-minority district. The Republican majority of the Louisiana Legislature voted to …

Statewide, LA –  Yesterday,  Monday, September 26, 2022, the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice (PCEJ) started an on the ground canvassing initiative in major cities like New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Alexandria and Lake Charles. The campaign is part of a statewide Get Out and Vote (GOTV) strategy currently underway ahead of the November 8, 2022 Primary Congressional election. In the …

International Democracy Day came and went this year with barely a whisper, but a quartet of human rights and community advocates from Alabama and Louisiana took the opportunity to reflect on the challenges to achieving America’s promise of equity and fairness.  Among those challenges are the flurry of adverse rulings in redistricting cases soon to be heard by the U.S. …

International Democracy Day came and went this year with barely a whisper, but a quartet of human rights and community advocates from Alabama and Louisiana took the opportunity to reflect on the challenges to achieving America’s promise of equity and fairness.   Among those challenges are the flurry of adverse rulings in redistricting cases soon to be heard by the …

The briefing also comes a week before National Voter Registration Day, which is held annually on Sept. 20. Alabama Values and Spotlight PR LLC are scheduled to host a media briefing discussing “the state of democracy in the U.S” this upcoming Thursday, according to a release sent on Monday. The meeting is planned to coincide with the International Day of …

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – A federal judge will redraw the state’s congressional map after state lawmakers abruptly ended a special session two days early. Saturday afternoon members of the Louisiana legislature decided there was no more moving forward with work to redraw the state’s congressional map. Dillard University political analyst Robert Collins says, “I think we were surprised by the …

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – On Tuesday, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards called for a special legislative session in Baton Rouge to redraw the state’s congressional district maps before the upcoming election. The governor’s decision comes after a federal judge ruled in favor of a lawsuit claiming the maps do not accurately represent the state’s population.

Louisiana legislators are going to have to return to the drawing board and come up with new maps that allow the possibility of a second minority congressperson to be elected in Louisiana, according to a 151-page ruling Monday by Chief U.S. Middle District of Louisiana Judge Shelly Dick in Baton Rouge. Dick’s ruling enjoined Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin – the …

The judge ordered the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature to redraw the map to include a second district that gives Black voters the chance to elect a candidate of their choice. A federal judge ruled on Monday that Louisiana’s new congressional map represented a racial gerrymander and must be redrawn to include a second district that gives Black voters the chance to …

In a dramatic turnaround from a month ago, the Jefferson Parish School Board opted Wednesday night to stick with the same nine-district alignment it has had since 2012. Last month, the board indicated — in a narrow 5-4 vote — that it intended to add two seats to the board and possibly double the number of majority-minority districts to four. The vote will …

The Jefferson Parish School Board has published four redistricting proposals that the board will take up as it considers a generational shift that could add two new seats to the nine-member board. The four district maps published on the school district’s website include the current nine-member district alignment and three 11-seat options prepared by outside groups. The board is scheduled to vote on …

by Ariel Salk for BRPROUD BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — After five long days, arguments have wrapped up at the Middle District Court of Louisiana in the fight to challenge Louisiana’s congressional map. The evidentiary hearing for a preliminary injunction came to an end Friday. Civil rights groups argued the map is in violation of Section 2 of the Voting …

by Charles Lussier for The Advocate A challenge to Louisiana’s newly drawn congressional maps opened Monday in federal court, with a coalition of civil rights groups hoping judges will eventually do what legislators wouldn’t: create a second majority-Black district. 

by Ariel Salk for BRPROUD BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The next step to challenge Louisiana’s congressional map happened Monday at the Middle District Court of Lousiana.  Civil rights groups are turning to the federal court, in what will be a week-long hearing, to block the congressional maps.

by Paula Jones for BRProud BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – A group of local organizations are planning a Thursday evening rally at the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board (EBR Schools) Office just prior to the Board’s 5 p.m. Public Hearing and Adoption/Ratification meeting. 

In a seismic shift that will dramatically alter Louisiana’s largest public school system, the Jefferson Parish School Board plans to add two seats to the nine-member body, its first expansion since 1982, in an effort to increase minority representation.

Board is two thirds White, school system one third White by Faimon A. Robers, III for Nola.com The Jefferson School Board has had nine members for more than a generation, but a number of impassioned speakers urged the board Thursday night to redraw its election districts – and perhaps add more – to reflect the parish’s mixed demographics. 

Setting up a likely lawsuit, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board on Thursday voted along racial lines to give preliminary approval to a new election map likely to maintain the status quo of five White and four Black board members, even though the city’s White population has declined and its Black population has grown over the past decade. 

Only a couple of hours after the Louisiana Legislature voted to override Gov. John Bel Edwards’ veto of a congressional map that didn’t expand minority representation, a lawsuit has been filed that claims the map violates federal law.

On this day, 57 years ago, March 7, 1965, activists endured attacks and abuse crossing the Edmund Pettus bridge to demonstrate for equal voting rights. Their sacrifice and valiant efforts led to passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which guaranteed the right to vote for all Americans, regardless of their color of their skin.

Dear Governor Edwards, On behalf of the below signatories, we write to thank you for doing what is right and fair by vetoing the racially discriminatory and illegal Congressional map passed by the state legislature. By failing to pass maps that increase representation for Black Louisianians and other communities of color, the Legislature ignored the law, the Census numbers, and …

Redistricting is how state and local governments redraw their political lines. Every 10 years following the Census, political maps are redrawn to account for population shifts. A Redistricting is supposed to ensure equal representation. However, the process is filled with controversy as tactics such as gerrymandering are utilized to influence future elections or maintain political power.

If you’ve ever wanted proof of the old French adage, “The more things change, the more they stay the same,” you need look no further than the Louisiana Legislature’s ham-fisted way of redrawing district maps after a decennial census.

Throughout the last six months, thousands of community members and fair redistricting advocacy groups have come together to shed light on the importance of a fair and equitable redistricting process. As the final Redistricting Roadshow concludes on January 20th, a misleading narrative has emerged: the Louisiana redistricting process should remain the same since its inception and not look at race. 

COVINGTON — State lawmakers on Tuesday heard from many north shore residents who were eager to have new political maps drawn and said they no longer want to be represented by a congressional district that is concentrated in the New Orleans suburbs south of Lake Pontchartrain. 

A coalition of major civil rights organizations demanded Monday that Louisiana legislators redraw election districts to increase the chance that a second Black person can be elected to Congress.

Redistricting is the hot topic at the State Capitol these days, and it should be. The outcome of the redistricting special session, which is tentatively set for February, will impact almost every government decision for the next decade.

A coalition of major civil rights organizations demanded Monday that Louisiana legislators redraw election districts to allow for the chance that a second Black person can be elected to Congress.