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GOP’s Landry says Louisiana should be ‘unshackled’ from election litigation

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) said his state must “recover from decades of litigation” following the Supreme Court’s notable decision involving the Pelican State that limited the scope of a section of the Voting Rights Act.

“Our voters are tired of this. So doesn’t Louisiana deserve some clarity?” Landry said in an interview with CBS News’ Cecilia Vega on Sunday’s episode of ’60 Minutes.’

Late last month, the Supreme Court declared that adding a second majority-black congressional district in Louisiana was unconstitutional apartheid. The 6-3 decision weakened a central provision of the Voting Rights Act.

Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act has historically allowed advocacy groups to push for the creation of additional majority-minority districts. The recent decision does not strike down the provision in its entirety, with Justice Samuel Alito portraying it as an “update” to the framework that has governed Voting Rights Act cases for decades.

“Does it concern you that there are no African-American representatives from Louisiana in Congress?” CBS News’ Cecilia Vega asked Landry in a “60 Minutes” interview.

“That’s a decision for the legislature to make, but I don’t believe we should go out and draw a district that would guarantee us minority representation,” Landry replied.

Republican-leaning states in the South have sought to challenge the GOP’s goal of preserving its House majority later this year by redrawing congressional maps following the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Voting Rights Act.

Last Thursday, Tennessee Republicans approved a new map that risks impeaching the state’s only House Democrat in the wake of a Supreme Court decision; This decision allowed more states to be redrawn ahead of midterm elections.

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