US supreme court expedites Voting Rights Act ruling so Louisiana can redraw its maps for midterms

The US supreme court went out of its way on Monday to help Louisiana Republicans redraw their congressional maps before this year’s midterm elections by allowing a recent ruling that gutted a key part of the Voting Rights Act to take effect ahead of schedule. The procedural move comes less than a week after the court’s landmark decision striking down Louisiana’s congressional map and gutting section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Usually, the court waits 32 days to formally issue its judgment to the lower court. Last week, Louisiana asked the court to speed up that process, citing the urgency with which it needed to redraw its congressional maps. On Monday, the court agreed to do so. “The date scheduled for the beginning of early voting in the primary election has already passed. The congressional districting map enacted by the legislature has been held to be unconstitutional, and the general election will be held in just six months,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote. The decision is likely to offer more legal cover to Louisiana Republicans, who took the extraordinary step of cancelling the 16 May primary for Congress after mail-in ballots had already gone out to overseas voters. There is ongoing litigation challenging that decision, and the supreme court expediting its judgment could bolster Louisiana’s legal arguments for the need to hold new elections. …