May 31, 2026
Greetings League Members and Friends!
We didn’t expect to be bundling two newsletters in a single sending, but the many events that have followed from the April 29 Callais decision have necessitated it. Our April newsletter began with the effects of the Callais decision and ended with an LWVLA court filing—accompanied by furious effort by League members to educate voters about Closed Party Primaries and the many logistical questions of how the May 16 primary election would proceed. That pattern continued into May.
On April 30, the day after the Callais decision, Governor Jeff Landry suspended the primary election for the U.S. House. And the day after that, on May 1, we filed a lawsuit in state court, with legal representation from the ACLU and the counsel of our LWVUS litigation advocacy team, to challenge the suspension of election on the eve of the commencement of the early voting period on May 2 and with many absentee/by-mail voters already having cast their votes.
The initial filing was accompanied by a flurry of activity from League members and friends to secure the notarized declarations required to file in state court. We were fortunate to secure a diverse group of declarants from three congressional districts, all of whom were able to attest, as voters, to the effects of being denied their opportunity to cast a primary vote for a congressional representative. And all this after the build-up to the first closed party primaries in more than a decade! The complaint referenced both their interests as voters and the League’s concerns about having to spend time and money educating voters about the closed primaries, only to have a crucial federal race suspended while the election was already in progress.
When our petition for a temporary restraining order to lift the suspension and allow the elections to proceed was rejected in the state court, we began plans for a new filing on May 4 in federal court. Fortunately, federal court filing requirements did not require a mad dash for notaries at printing shops and other locations around the state, so we were able to expand our pool of plaintiffs and declarants to include League members and friends from all six congressional districts. Even so, and despite direct appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, the elections were allowed to proceed–with the House race still suspended–all the way through to through the May 16 Election Day.
In the interim, the Louisiana Legislature began to conduct hearings to redraw congressional district maps. On May 8, the Senate & Governmental Affairs Committee held many hours of hearings on four possible maps. League members were present at the Louisiana Capitol for those hearings. On May 11, S&GA abruptly moved up the hearing that had been scheduled for May 13 to May 12. Again, League members were present at the Capitol for hearings.
The May 12 hearing did not begin until evening, after the adjournment of the Senate’s regular afternoon floor session, and it concluded with a vote on the morning of May 13 at 4:35 AM. That vote was in support of SB 121, brought by Sen. Jay Morris, which with some adjustments continues to be the prevailing map at the end of May, as the Legislature draws to its June 1 close. That 5-1 map takes away the Sixth Congressional District that was established in 2024, leaving Louisiana with only a single minority opportunity district.
On May 18, upon the advice of attorneys and two days after the conclusion of the primary election on May 16, the League filed for voluntary dismissal of our lawsuit. The primary election period had concluded, dates and districts for the November and December election and December runoff were confirmed with a return to an open primary structure, and the new map seemed near to finalization with a Louisiana House floor vote scheduled for May 28. The dismissal was so ordered; however, we at the League will be finding ways to weigh in with amicus briefs as the still ongoing Callais case enters its remedial phase. The fight for fairness continues!
Despite these developments, the League takes pride in our ability to quickly come together to pursue litigation advocacy on behalf of Louisiana’s voters. We have also been proud this spring in the work that we did to educate voters about Closed Party Primaries. While we took no position on statewide constitutional amendments and local ballot issues, we did speak out about the particular threats posed by Amendment 1 on the Civil Service, which was rejected by the highest margin of all the constitutional amendments. A library millage in Lafayette failed amid the general rancor over ballot initiatives, but there will be a final opportunity to educate voters in Lafayette about the importance of Public Libraries before it appears on the December ballot. League members in Baton Rouge are also working to educate voters on their local library funding initiative, which will appear on the June 27 ballot.
The “Unite & Rise 8.5” campaign to register, educate, and activate 8.5 million voters continues—and Louisiana is seeking to reach 160,000 Louisiana voters before the 2026 midterm elections. As always, if you’re not with us yet as a League member, join us, tell your friends, and consider a donation to fund our work. We have been especially grateful for contributions from around the nation—California, Florida, New York, North Carolina, and Washington—to support our work. We cannot fully express how meaningful it is to know that our work is being noticed and valued, and that we are not alone in this struggle!
In League,
Your LWVLA State Board
Upcoming Events in June:
- June 6-Online Registration Deadline for June 27 Runoff Election
- June 12-20-Early Voting for June 27 Runoff (except June 14 and June 19)
- June 14- Flag Day
- June 19- Juneteenth
- June 25-28–LWVUS National Convention
- June 27-Closed Party Primary Runoff Election