Louisiana Republicans Postpone Primary Elections Following SCOTUS Decision To Gut Voting Rights Act

On Wednesday, the Republican-dominated U.S. Supreme Court validated the fears of voting rights advocates spent months expressing, by using its decision in Louisiana v. Callais to strip away Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, essentially cementing the ruling that diluting Black voting power is fine, but correcting that act of systemic racism is unconstitutional.

Well, now, it has been decided that Louisiana’s congressional primaries won’t go forward as scheduled next month, as a result of the 6-3 decision, which blocked a Black-majority congressional district in Louisiana just weeks before the election.

From the Associated Press:

Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill, both Republicans, said in a joint statement that Wednesday’s high court ruling effectively prohibits the state from carrying out the primaries under the current districts. Early voting had been scheduled to begin Saturday in advance of the May 16 primary.

“The State is currently enjoined from carrying out congressional elections under the current map,” Landry and Murrill said in the statement posted to social media. “We are working together with the Legislature and the Secretary of State’s office to develop a path forward.”

The election suspension was denounced by some Democrats.

“This is going to cause mass confusion among voters — Democrats, Republicans, white, Black, everybody,” said Louisiana state Sen. Royce Duplessis, a Democrat who represents the New Orleans area. “What they’re effectively doing is changing the rules of the game in the middle of the game. It’s rigging the system.”

As usual, every allegation is a confession when it comes to the MAGA-fied Republican Party, which has been consistently losing elections to Democrats over the last year, even in traditionally red areas. Republicans haven’t been very successful in pushing legislation through Congress aimed at fixing election security issues that do not exist, and they’ve been losing the gerrymandering battle they started with Democrats at the behest of President Donald Trump, whose administration, according to The Guardian, took part in the court challenge that resulted in the Louisiana v. Callais decision. (This is the same administration that has used Civil Rights Act legislation to combat fictional discrimination against white people, while rolling back civil rights protections for Black people, and reversing policies and legal decisions meant to protect Black people.)

So, now, they’ve gone to the Supreme Court, so it could do exactly what it did when it struck down affirmative action in 2023: enshrine into law white conservatives’ demonstrably false belief that racism in America is over, and the nation doesn’t need civil protections for Black and Latino people any longer.

And of course, while state officials might have the legal right to postpone the primary election races, it doesn’t mean they’re not lying about the necessity to do so.

More from AP:

While Louisiana officials may legally be able to move the primary, it’s not accurate to assert that it was blocked by the Supreme Court’s decision, said Ruth Greenwood, director of the Election Law Clinic at Harvard Law School.

State Rep. Kyle Green, a former assistant state attorney general who is chair of the House Democratic caucus, also cast doubt on the legal justification for postponing the congressional primary.

“The Court’s decision does not halt the election process on its own,” Green said. “And any attempt to suspend or disrupt an ongoing election at this stage would raise serious constitutional concerns.”

Since at least November 2020, the GOP has proven time and time again that if it can’t win free and fair elections, it will weaponize the law and SCOTUS to change up the standard of what’s considered free and fair. A quality political party with ideas and good policies does not need to do that, but we can expect the party of MAGA to keep proving they do all the way through the mid-term election this November.

Sad.

SEE ALSO:

SCOTUS Callais Decision Delivers Major Blow To Black Voting Rights

What The SCOTUS Ruling Means For Black Voting Rights And How We Move Forward

Black Voter Disenfranchisement Is On The Supreme Court Docket