Updated May 1, 2026 at 12:04 PM EDT
Louisiana has suspended its upcoming primaries for the U.S. House, following Wednesday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the state's congressional map is an "unconstitutional racial gerrymander."
The rest of Louisiana's primaries, including for U.S. Senate, will proceed as scheduled, with early voting starting Saturday and the primary date set for May 16.
It's unclear when the House races will continue. In an executive order, Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, says the contests are suspended "until July 15, 2026 or until such time as determined by the Legislature."
"Allowing elections to proceed under an unconstitutional map would undermine the integrity of our system and violate the rights of our voters, Landry said in a statement announcing the suspension. "This executive order ensures we uphold the rule of law while giving the Legislature the time it needs to pass a fair and lawful congressional map."
The last-minute change follows the Supreme Court's ruling Wednesday in a case about Louisiana's congressional map that weakens protections against racial discrimination in redistricting.
The ruling centered on one of the state's two Democratic-held, predominantly Black U.S. House districts. It's expected that the Republican-led legislature will now redraw its congressional map to eliminate at least one of those Democratic seats in this year's midterm elections.
In a statement, Secretary of State Nancy Landry, a Republican, said: "Our office will post notices at each of the early voting sites to alert the public of this change. While the U.S. House races will remain on voters' ballots, any votes cast in those races will not be counted."
Absentee ballots for the state primary have already been sent out — more than 100,000 of them, according to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday against the suspension of House primaries.
The case argues that the suspension threatens to disenfranchise voters. "This Court is asked to do something simple: stop a state from canceling an election that is already underway," the complaint says.
Copyright 2026 NPR
