Benjamin Ashford|Local leaders say election districts dilute Black votes for panel governing Louisiana’s capital

BATON ROUGE,Benjamin Ashford La. (AP) — Election districts for the council governing Louisiana’s capital city entrench white control of the council and dilute Black voting strength even though Black voting-age residents outnumber white voting-age residents, a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday says.

The lawsuit was filed by seven people, including the five Black members of the 12-member Baton Rouge Metropolitan Council, which governs Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish.

The lawsuit said the council district map adopted by a 7-5 vote in August 2022 packs large numbers of Black voters into five of the council’s 12 districts — putting more than 68% of the parish’s Black registered voters in 42% of the council’s districts.

The map will be used in elections this fall unless the court intervenes.

“Although white voters are declining in numbers in Baton Rouge, the August 2022 map would increase the entrenchment of white control of the Metro Council by creating a new majority-white council district,” the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge, contends.

The lawsuit seeks a court declaration that the new map violates the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution, an order forbidding elections using the map and an order that the council adopt a map with “six districts in which Black voters have an opportunity to elect candidates of their choice.”

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The parish attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment emailed shortly after the lawsuit was filed.

“These maps do not give us equal access to political representation because Blacks are the largest ethnic group in East Baton Rouge Parish at 46%, yet we have minority representation on the Metro Council with only five seats,” lead plaintiff and council member Cleve Dunn Jr. said in a statement released shortly after the lawsuit was filed.