Around 42,000 people cast mail ballots before Louisiana halted congressional primaries to gerrymander 

Roughly 42,000 voters cast ballots in Louisiana’s elections when Gov. Jeff Landry’s (R) suspension of congressional primaries went into effect, according to recent early voting data published by state officials.

It’s unknown whether all of those ballots included votes in the now-suspended primaries for the U.S. House of Representatives. But in most elections, a large share of ballots contain votes in those races.

Landry’s order, which was issued after the Supreme Court deemed the state’s congressional map unconstitutional, is being challenged in court. But if it stands, any votes in the congressional race would likely be thrown out, silencing the voices of a huge number of voters.

To suspend the primaries, Landry claimed that the Supreme Court’s ruling constituted an “election emergency” and declared a state of emergency on April 30, just days before early voting was set to begin on May 2. Absentee ballots for the state’s May 16 primary elections were mailed out on April 1 — a month before the governor’s declaration.

Though it’s unknown exactly how many ballots were cast before the declaration officially went into effect, the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office reported on May 3 that it had received over 42,000 absentee ballots.

The Louisiana Illuminator first reported on the May 3 data. 

In response to Landry’s order, which has been challenged by four separate lawsuits, congressional candidates have urged voters to disregard the governor’s declaration and continue voting a full ballot. 

“I’m telling the people who are voting to vote. And vote the full ballot,” Rep. Cleo Fields (D-La.), whose Baton Rouge congressional district was at issue in the Supreme Court’s decision, said at a Monday press conference.

“Don’t listen to the secretary of state or the governor, for that matter,” Fields added. “Because this issue is not resolved yet.”

Calls to vote a full ballot could mean that thousands more votes could ultimately be invalidated, depending on how state lawmakers redraw the state’s congressional map.

The Secretary of State’s Office published data Tuesday showing that over 104,000 votes had been cast so far in the primary elections.

Of those, 45,000 were absentee ballots, while the remaining were from in-person ballots cast at early voting sites. At those sites, voters were met with bulletins announcing the cancellation of the U.S. House primaries.

Even though primaries are underway, the Supreme Court Monday cleared the way for Louisiana Republicans to move forward with redrawing the map by fast-tracking certification of its decision in Louisiana v. Callais.

The court’s conservative-appointed majority determined that Louisiana’s current congressional map amounted to an unconstitutional gerrymander based on the race of voters because it included a second majority-Black district in the state.

In doing so, the court rendered all but useless Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which barred the use of redistricting schemes to dilute the voting power of racial minorities. 

Immediately following the ruling, Louisiana Republicans embarked on a redistricting effort aimed at eliminating the New Orleans-based 2nd Congressional District, which is currently represented by Rep. Troy Carter (D).

The four lawsuits against Landry — two of which were filed in federal court and the others in state courts — all seek court orders blocking the emergency declaration.

The governor’s order postponed primaries until either July 15 or “such time as determined by the Legislature.”