Louisiana

Louisiana Redistricting: Bipartisan or Power Struggle?

Election Law Society · January 24, 2022 ·

By: Nick Brookings

With the 2020 Census completed, time has come for states to officially begin the redistricting process. This once a decade process is hugely important as cleverly planned districts can make all the difference in a state legislature by guaranteeing one party a majority for years to come. With the divisive decision of Rucho v. Common Cause in 2019, the court ruled that partisan gerrymandering claims “present political question beyond the reach of the federal courts.” With this decision a federal hurdle in the way of gerrymandering has been cleared, signaling that the gerrymandering possibilities are open as long as federal racial gerrymandering standards are met. Redistricting is always hugely impactful for state and federal legislatures, and the dominant parties of each state, or redistricting commissions, are rushing to create their plans.

Louisiana Election Delays

Election Law Society · December 10, 2021 ·

By: Nicholas Brookings

When one thinks of changes to elections, the most common things that come to mind are voting by mail, changes to identification requirements and election locations, and so on. What one does not think about as often are changes to the actual day the election takes place, and yet that change, albeit temporary, has taken place in Louisiana for the 2021 election. This is due to Hurricane Ida, and the massive damage it caused. Indeed, the secretary of state, Kyle Ardoin, stated that 42% of Louisiana voters were impacted by the storm. Power is still out in some effected areas, and some voting locations are still damaged. As a result, the state decided to postpone the elections, moving everything back around a month, with the October 9^th elections occurring on November 13^th. The run-offs, which were scheduled for November 13^th, are now to be held on December 11^th. The governor did this through LA R.S. 18:401.1, the election emergency statute for Louisiana.

Welcome to the Jungle: Senate Majority May Come Down to Louisiana

Election Law Society · October 28, 2014 ·

By Staff Writer

Pundits have framed this year’s election cycle as having the potential to shift control of the United States Senate from Democrats to Republicans—and given the sheer number of close races across the country, nearly every seat in serious contention has the makings of being the deciding race. Due to Louisiana’s unusual election laws, however, the chattering class might not know which way the pendulum will swing until long after Election Day on November 4^th. [Read more…] about Welcome to the Jungle: Senate Majority May Come Down to Louisiana

Scrutiny on Louisiana Congressional District

Election Law Society · January 29, 2014 ·

by Tobias Eisenlohr

A new study draws attention to the odd shape of Louisiana’s second congressional district as one of the least “compact” jurisdictions in the nation. Azavea, a geospatial data and web technology firm, released its findings on October 31, 2013, which analyzes the shape of all United States congressional districts and provides insight into the motivations and effects of redistricting. Rooted in geographic rather than demographic statistics, the study pinpoints a district’s physical “compactness” as an indicator of its status as gerrymandered. Compactness is defined by analyzing two factors: how far a district strays from a traditional circle or square shape, and how smooth its boundaries are. Encompassing nearly all of the city of New Orleans and stretching west past Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s second district consists of 1202 square miles and meanders in an odd “Zorro”-shape. Home to nearly 500,000 people (344,935 white and 153,908 black), the second district is the seventh-least compact congressional district in the nation. Overall, Louisiana ranked as the third-least compact state in the nation, leading only Maryland and North Carolina. [Read more…] about Scrutiny on Louisiana Congressional District

Rumble Because of the Jungle: How the “Jungle Primary” has Lead to a Vicious Same Party Battle for a Congressional Seat

Election Law Society · December 27, 2012 ·

by Erica Woebse

In the contemporary era of American politics, Congressional races tend to be bitter partisan battles waged between one Republican and one Democratic candidate. Third parties operate peripherally, typically only able to bring up issues for the major party candidates to address or maybe steal votes away from one of the major partisan contenders. However, this has not been the case in the congressional race in district 3 of Louisiana. In district 3, a vicious battle between two Republican incumbents forced the opposing Democratic candidate into the role so often reserved for third party contenders.

The November 6^th election resulted in incumbent Republican Representative Charles Boustany winning 45% of the vote, while opposing Republican incumbent Jeff Landry, with strong support from the Tea Party and conservative Republican groups, captured 30%. As dictated by the terms of Louisiana’s jungle primary system, because neither candidate captured a majority of the vote, these Republicans will be forced to square off again in a December 8^th runoff election. Many political commentators blame Democratic candidate Ron Richard for the need to hold a run-off election. While Richard was an underdog to win the seat, the 24% of the vote he earned stole votes from the Republican frontrunners and prevented either Republican candidate from capturing a majority of the votes. [Read more…] about Rumble Because of the Jungle: How the “Jungle Primary” has Lead to a Vicious Same Party Battle for a Congressional Seat