Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry announced Thursday that the state will suspend the U.S. House primaries set for May 16 after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the state’s congressional map. Landry said the House races will remain printed on ballots, but “any votes cast in those races will not be counted.”
Landry said she certified an emergency under La. Stat. 18:401.1(B), a procedural step the statute requires before the governor can issue an executive order to suspend contests. Gov. Jeff Landry signed an order suspending the House primaries until July 15, or “until such time as determined by the legislature,” and urged lawmakers to draw new congressional maps and schedule elections “as soon as practical.”
Other races, including Senate primaries, will proceed as planned, Landry’s office said. Election officials will post notices at early voting locations to inform voters that House-race votes will not be counted while the suspension is in effect.
The move prompted immediate legal action. A three-judge federal appeals panel — the same panel that heard the original case taken to the Supreme Court — issued a brief order suspending the House primaries until new maps are adopted; the Associated Press characterized that order as premature. Prominent Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias announced he has filed suit challenging Landry’s certification and the suspension.
Locally, former NAACP Baton Rouge branch president Eugene Collins and congressional candidate Lindsay Garcia sued Gov. Landry, Secretary of State Landry and former Secretary of State Liz Murrell in federal court seeking a court order to require the state to hold the House primaries as scheduled. Their complaint argues the suspension will disenfranchise voters, noting absentee ballots have already been cast and that the Supreme Court did not instruct states to cancel or postpone elections.
The suspension comes days before early voting was to begin.
On Wednesday the Supreme Court upheld a lower-court finding that Louisiana mapmakers relied too heavily on race when redrawing districts to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. In a 6-3 decision authored by Justice Samuel Alito, the Court’s conservative majority concluded that compliance with Section 2 could not justify the use of race in drawing the state’s House districts.
Separately, Florida Republicans this week approved a new congressional map backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis after litigation over redistricting and the implications of the Supreme Court ruling.