Voting rights activists protest outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC on October 15, 2025 as the justices prepared to hear arguments in a case challenging Louisiana's congressional map.
Louisiana Voters Launch Court Challenges to GOP Cancellation of In-Progress Primary
"On the heels of a Supreme Court decision that eviscerated protections for voters of color, elected officials jumped at the chance to disenfranchise people—we won't allow it," said the ACLU.
Voters and civil rights groups on Friday launched a pair of legal challenges against Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry's suspension of his state's US House primary election following a federal Supreme Court ruling ordering a redraw of a congressional map that was meant to help redress centuries of Black disenfranchisement.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 along ideological lines in Louisiana v. Callais that the state's congressional map is “an unconstitutional racial gerrymander,” an ironic finding given that the map was the result of a federal judge's order to create a second majority-Black US House district in an effort to correct underrepresentation of African Americans, who make up nearly a third of Louisiana's population.
The decision effectively erased the last remaining provision of Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA), which allows voters of color to challenge racially discriminatory electoral maps in court.
The following day, Landry cited the decision in an order suspending the state's US House primaries until a new map is drawn. While President Donald Trump praised Landry, one voting rights campaigner accused Republicans—who fear losing their razor-thin congressional majority in November's midterm elections—of "colluding in broad daylight to try to rig the election and silence Black voters.”
On Friday, the League of Women Voters of Louisiana, Louisiana State Conference of the NAACP, Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, and three individual voters—who are all represented by the Legal Defense Fund, ACLU, and ACLU of Louisiana—filed an emergency motion to block Landry and Secretary of State Nancy Landry’s suspension of the primary after voting has already begun.
The petitioners argued that Landry's move "exceeds the governor’s authority under Louisiana’s laws and Constitution to invoke emergency power to stop the congressional primary elections based on a US Supreme Court ruling and not a natural disaster, public health, or similar emergency threatening the physical safety of Louisianians."
BREAKING: We're suing Louisiana officials for suspending the state's primary election after voting has already begun.On the heels of a Supreme Court decision that eviscerated protections for voters of color, elected officials jumped at the chance to disenfranchise people — we won't allow it.
— ACLU (@aclu.org) May 1, 2026 at 1:52 PM
“Emergency powers are not a blank check to rewrite election rules after voting has begun, nor do they authorize the governor to cancel votes that have already been cast to suit his political purposes," the petitioners and their attorneys said in a statement.
"The governor’s order is sparking chaos and is an illegal effort to erase the legally cast votes and disenfranchise thousands of people across the state," the statement continues. "This is a shameful attempt to weaponize the court’s recent decision at the expense of Black voters and manipulate an ongoing election."
"Gov. Landry and Secretary Landry must serve the people and obey the law," the petitioners and their lawyers added. "Any last-minute effort to alter election procedures or enact discriminatory maps must be stopped.”
Separately on Friday, Louisiana voters who already cast ballots in the primary filed a petition in state court seeking a restraining order to block Landry's move on the same grounds the other groups are arguing.
"Ballots were sent to military voters and overseas voters as required by federal law a month ago," the motion states. "Mail ballots were sent to other voters entitled to vote by mail under Louisiana law almost a week ago. As a result, many voters—including among the petitioners here—have already voted."
The petitioners—the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)-Greater New Orleans Section and three individual voters—contended that "the governor’s extraordinary and unlawful assertion of the power to cancel an election midstream is both unprecedented and unjustified."
"Quite to the contrary, the Supreme Court has historically found that when voting in an election is within months of beginning—and, here, it has already begun—the state must proceed under the invalidated map, and any infirmities must be corrected for future elections," they added.
🚨BREAKING: On behalf of the National Council of Jewish Women and Louisiana voters, my law firm has sued Governor Jeff Landry (R) and Secretary of State Nancy Landry (R), challenging the state’s decision to suspend the 2026 congressional primary elections. www.democracydocket.com/cases/louisi...
[image or embed]
— Marc Elias (@marcelias.bsky.social) May 1, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Friday's petitions follow the filing of a federal lawsuit arguing Landry's primary postponement poses "imminent" and "irreparable" harms to voters.
In addition to backing the NCJW motion, the National Redistricting Foundation on Friday also petitioned the Supreme Court to "deny Alabama’s desperate and hypocritical attempt to expedite a challenge to its congressional map" as the state's May 19 primary election approaches.
Republican officials in Alabama responded to the Louisiana v. Callais decision by asking the nation's highest court to fast-track its own racially rigged congressional map.
Trump—who has repeatedly floated canceling the midterms—said Thursday that he secured a commitment from Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to “work hard to correct” the his state's congressional map in the wake of the Louisiana v. Callais ruling.
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Voters and civil rights groups on Friday launched a pair of legal challenges against Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry's suspension of his state's US House primary election following a federal Supreme Court ruling ordering a redraw of a congressional map that was meant to help redress centuries of Black disenfranchisement.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 along ideological lines in Louisiana v. Callais that the state's congressional map is “an unconstitutional racial gerrymander,” an ironic finding given that the map was the result of a federal judge's order to create a second majority-Black US House district in an effort to correct underrepresentation of African Americans, who make up nearly a third of Louisiana's population.
The decision effectively erased the last remaining provision of Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA), which allows voters of color to challenge racially discriminatory electoral maps in court.
The following day, Landry cited the decision in an order suspending the state's US House primaries until a new map is drawn. While President Donald Trump praised Landry, one voting rights campaigner accused Republicans—who fear losing their razor-thin congressional majority in November's midterm elections—of "colluding in broad daylight to try to rig the election and silence Black voters.”
On Friday, the League of Women Voters of Louisiana, Louisiana State Conference of the NAACP, Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, and three individual voters—who are all represented by the Legal Defense Fund, ACLU, and ACLU of Louisiana—filed an emergency motion to block Landry and Secretary of State Nancy Landry’s suspension of the primary after voting has already begun.
The petitioners argued that Landry's move "exceeds the governor’s authority under Louisiana’s laws and Constitution to invoke emergency power to stop the congressional primary elections based on a US Supreme Court ruling and not a natural disaster, public health, or similar emergency threatening the physical safety of Louisianians."
BREAKING: We're suing Louisiana officials for suspending the state's primary election after voting has already begun.On the heels of a Supreme Court decision that eviscerated protections for voters of color, elected officials jumped at the chance to disenfranchise people — we won't allow it.
— ACLU (@aclu.org) May 1, 2026 at 1:52 PM
“Emergency powers are not a blank check to rewrite election rules after voting has begun, nor do they authorize the governor to cancel votes that have already been cast to suit his political purposes," the petitioners and their attorneys said in a statement.
"The governor’s order is sparking chaos and is an illegal effort to erase the legally cast votes and disenfranchise thousands of people across the state," the statement continues. "This is a shameful attempt to weaponize the court’s recent decision at the expense of Black voters and manipulate an ongoing election."
"Gov. Landry and Secretary Landry must serve the people and obey the law," the petitioners and their lawyers added. "Any last-minute effort to alter election procedures or enact discriminatory maps must be stopped.”
Separately on Friday, Louisiana voters who already cast ballots in the primary filed a petition in state court seeking a restraining order to block Landry's move on the same grounds the other groups are arguing.
"Ballots were sent to military voters and overseas voters as required by federal law a month ago," the motion states. "Mail ballots were sent to other voters entitled to vote by mail under Louisiana law almost a week ago. As a result, many voters—including among the petitioners here—have already voted."
The petitioners—the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)-Greater New Orleans Section and three individual voters—contended that "the governor’s extraordinary and unlawful assertion of the power to cancel an election midstream is both unprecedented and unjustified."
"Quite to the contrary, the Supreme Court has historically found that when voting in an election is within months of beginning—and, here, it has already begun—the state must proceed under the invalidated map, and any infirmities must be corrected for future elections," they added.
🚨BREAKING: On behalf of the National Council of Jewish Women and Louisiana voters, my law firm has sued Governor Jeff Landry (R) and Secretary of State Nancy Landry (R), challenging the state’s decision to suspend the 2026 congressional primary elections. www.democracydocket.com/cases/louisi...
[image or embed]
— Marc Elias (@marcelias.bsky.social) May 1, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Friday's petitions follow the filing of a federal lawsuit arguing Landry's primary postponement poses "imminent" and "irreparable" harms to voters.
In addition to backing the NCJW motion, the National Redistricting Foundation on Friday also petitioned the Supreme Court to "deny Alabama’s desperate and hypocritical attempt to expedite a challenge to its congressional map" as the state's May 19 primary election approaches.
Republican officials in Alabama responded to the Louisiana v. Callais decision by asking the nation's highest court to fast-track its own racially rigged congressional map.
Trump—who has repeatedly floated canceling the midterms—said Thursday that he secured a commitment from Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to “work hard to correct” the his state's congressional map in the wake of the Louisiana v. Callais ruling.
Voters and civil rights groups on Friday launched a pair of legal challenges against Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry's suspension of his state's US House primary election following a federal Supreme Court ruling ordering a redraw of a congressional map that was meant to help redress centuries of Black disenfranchisement.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 along ideological lines in Louisiana v. Callais that the state's congressional map is “an unconstitutional racial gerrymander,” an ironic finding given that the map was the result of a federal judge's order to create a second majority-Black US House district in an effort to correct underrepresentation of African Americans, who make up nearly a third of Louisiana's population.
The decision effectively erased the last remaining provision of Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA), which allows voters of color to challenge racially discriminatory electoral maps in court.
The following day, Landry cited the decision in an order suspending the state's US House primaries until a new map is drawn. While President Donald Trump praised Landry, one voting rights campaigner accused Republicans—who fear losing their razor-thin congressional majority in November's midterm elections—of "colluding in broad daylight to try to rig the election and silence Black voters.”
On Friday, the League of Women Voters of Louisiana, Louisiana State Conference of the NAACP, Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, and three individual voters—who are all represented by the Legal Defense Fund, ACLU, and ACLU of Louisiana—filed an emergency motion to block Landry and Secretary of State Nancy Landry’s suspension of the primary after voting has already begun.
The petitioners argued that Landry's move "exceeds the governor’s authority under Louisiana’s laws and Constitution to invoke emergency power to stop the congressional primary elections based on a US Supreme Court ruling and not a natural disaster, public health, or similar emergency threatening the physical safety of Louisianians."
BREAKING: We're suing Louisiana officials for suspending the state's primary election after voting has already begun.On the heels of a Supreme Court decision that eviscerated protections for voters of color, elected officials jumped at the chance to disenfranchise people — we won't allow it.
— ACLU (@aclu.org) May 1, 2026 at 1:52 PM
“Emergency powers are not a blank check to rewrite election rules after voting has begun, nor do they authorize the governor to cancel votes that have already been cast to suit his political purposes," the petitioners and their attorneys said in a statement.
"The governor’s order is sparking chaos and is an illegal effort to erase the legally cast votes and disenfranchise thousands of people across the state," the statement continues. "This is a shameful attempt to weaponize the court’s recent decision at the expense of Black voters and manipulate an ongoing election."
"Gov. Landry and Secretary Landry must serve the people and obey the law," the petitioners and their lawyers added. "Any last-minute effort to alter election procedures or enact discriminatory maps must be stopped.”
Separately on Friday, Louisiana voters who already cast ballots in the primary filed a petition in state court seeking a restraining order to block Landry's move on the same grounds the other groups are arguing.
"Ballots were sent to military voters and overseas voters as required by federal law a month ago," the motion states. "Mail ballots were sent to other voters entitled to vote by mail under Louisiana law almost a week ago. As a result, many voters—including among the petitioners here—have already voted."
The petitioners—the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)-Greater New Orleans Section and three individual voters—contended that "the governor’s extraordinary and unlawful assertion of the power to cancel an election midstream is both unprecedented and unjustified."
"Quite to the contrary, the Supreme Court has historically found that when voting in an election is within months of beginning—and, here, it has already begun—the state must proceed under the invalidated map, and any infirmities must be corrected for future elections," they added.
🚨BREAKING: On behalf of the National Council of Jewish Women and Louisiana voters, my law firm has sued Governor Jeff Landry (R) and Secretary of State Nancy Landry (R), challenging the state’s decision to suspend the 2026 congressional primary elections. www.democracydocket.com/cases/louisi...
[image or embed]
— Marc Elias (@marcelias.bsky.social) May 1, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Friday's petitions follow the filing of a federal lawsuit arguing Landry's primary postponement poses "imminent" and "irreparable" harms to voters.
In addition to backing the NCJW motion, the National Redistricting Foundation on Friday also petitioned the Supreme Court to "deny Alabama’s desperate and hypocritical attempt to expedite a challenge to its congressional map" as the state's May 19 primary election approaches.
Republican officials in Alabama responded to the Louisiana v. Callais decision by asking the nation's highest court to fast-track its own racially rigged congressional map.
Trump—who has repeatedly floated canceling the midterms—said Thursday that he secured a commitment from Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to “work hard to correct” the his state's congressional map in the wake of the Louisiana v. Callais ruling.