Louisiana lawmakers override Edwards' veto of proposed remap

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Both chambers of the Louisiana Legislature voted Wednesday mainly along party lines to override Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards' veto of a congressional redistricting bill, marking the first time in nearly three decades that lawmakers refused to accept a governor's refusal of a bill they had passed.

The map was passed during a special legislative session called to redraw government district lines to account for population shifts reflected in the 2020 census. The new map is outlined in two identical bills sent to Edwards. The governor vetoed both, saying lawmakers should have included a second majority-Black district among the six districts they approved.

Wednesday's House vote was 72-31 — more than the two-thirds needed — to turn House Bill 1 into law over Edwards' objections, The Advocate reported. State senators voted 27-11 in favor of the bill.

But backers of the bill will likely face legal challenges by opponents who say the districts violate federal voting rights law.

All 27 Republicans in the Senate voted to override. Joining the Republicans in the House to override the governor’s veto were the three members unaffiliated with either party: Reps Roy Daryl Adams, of Jackson; Joe Marino, of Gretna, and Malinda White, of Bogalusa.

Senate Bill 5 and House Bill 1, which are nearly identical, assign each of the state’s 3,934 precincts to one of Louisiana’s six congressional districts. With some adjustments to fit changes in the U.S. Census, the districts are very close to the ones that elected five White Republicans and one Black Democrat for the past decade.

Democrats proposed about a dozen maps that showed enough Black voters live close enough together to allow for a second minority-majority district under the federal Voting Rights Act of...