NAACP files lawsuit to stop Landry from canceling election

By Christopher Tidmore

Contributing Writer

In Southern states, which have never elected an African-American statewide, the existence of African-American majority districts – whether it be at the congressional or legislative level – stand as the essential guardian of voter representation. Without them, Blacks end up locked out of federal elected office, and often local offices. 

Equally, GOP elites in Southern states can just ignore their substantial Democratic minorities, by drawing almost no districts that African Americans can win. That is the argument that critics contend of the recent Supreme Court decision as well as Gov. Jeff Landry’s snap call last Thursday to cancel the May 16 congressional primary elections, in order to redraw the lines of U.S. House districts.

On Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in a 6-3 decision along ideological lines, the Court effectively ruled in Louisiana v. Callais, that such disenfranchisement is acceptable. As Justice Elena Kagan noted, Section 2 of the 1965 Voter Rights Act has effectively been gutted into irrelevance as a result. “That is racial vote dilution in its most classic form,” Kagan wrote. “A minority community that is cohesive in its geography and politics alike, and that faces continued adversity from racial division, is split – “cracked” is the usual term – so that it loses all its electoral influence. Members of the racial minority can still go to the polls and cast a ballot. But given the state’s racially polarized voting, they cannot hope – in the way the State’s white citizens can – to elect a person whom they think will well represent their interests.”

The even greater bipartisan tragedy is that the ruling will make the rush to a partisan redrawing of the congressional districts all the more urgent – as it already has in Mississippi, Florida, Alabama and (now) Louisiana. In point of fact, in an era where gerrymandering transforms states into partisan balances non-reflective of how the vote splits in presidential elections, minority districts, like the two in the Pelican State, allow congressional representation to somewhat reflect the partisan breakdown federally– 60-40.

The decision by the Supreme Court majority in invalidating Cleo Fields’ district, not only sets up this nation for a hyper-partisan GOP gerrymander across the U.S. South (which could net the Republicans 12 seats), but it also undermines the basic idea of fair representation – the very issue that senior Republicans complained about in the California and Virginia referendums.

In fact, it’s already happening. Of the six new congressional maps proposed to be considered by the Louisiana Legislature before the June 1 sine die, the most popular would leave Louisiana with not even one Black majority district. Senate Bill 116 purports to keep Louisiana’s six congressional districts but adjust their boundaries based on updated population and precinct data, yet none of its proposed congressional districts are majority Black.

The SB116’s proposed District 2, which includes Orleans Parish, comes closest, but it still boasts of a Caucasian plurality. Cleo Fields’ current District 6 (the subject of the Supreme Court case) would gain a white majority even though the justices made clear that race could be considered an element of drawing up a new district for the incumbent congressman. Its new lines would run from East Baton Rouge Parish to Ascension, Iberville and West Baton Rouge parishes, as well as encompassing a large portion of Livingston Parish.

It’s not surprising that Eugene Collins, former president of  NAACP Baton Rouge Branch  and House candidate Lindsay Garcia filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday asking to allow the May 16 and June 27 primary elections to move forward. They demand a court order requiring Governor Landry, Attorney General Liz Murrill and Secretary of State Nancy Landry to allow the congressional elections proceed on the district lines currently constituted. The lawsuit claims the suspension would disenfranchise voters, citing that absentee ballots have already been cast and the Supreme Court did not order the “cancellation, postponement, or suspension of any election.”

Melissa Flournoy, board chair of 10,000 Women Louisiana, stated, “The Governor has flipped the table on Louisiana voters. Throwing a wrench into the election process at the last minute is reckless and undermines trust in our democracy. The Secretary of State must stand up and protect the sanctity of Louisiana’s elections.”

In a statement to The Louisiana Weekly, 10,000 Women Louisiana views the Governor’s actions as part of a broader pattern of political maneuvering that risks eroding democratic norms. Alfreda Tilman Bester, vice chair of 10,000 Women Louisiana and former general counsel for the NAACP, said: “Governor Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill are among the most divisive figures in our state’s modern history. Their actions contribute to a coordinated erosion of voting rights for Louisiana citizens.” 

Bester added: “Louisiana is not a red state or a blue state – is a nonvoting state. Efforts to mark hundreds of thousands of voters as inactive, combined with last-minute election disruptions, make participation harder, not easier. Our leaders should be expanding access, not restricting it.”

Flournoy emphasized the broader historical context, “Louisiana has a long history of voter suppression through the Jim Crow era. In the 21st century, we should be moving forward not back. These actions disrespect voters and threaten the integrity of our election system.”

This article originally published in the May 4, 2026 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.