Louisiana Voters Sue to Restore Congressional Primary After Governor Suspends Race Mid-Election

A federal lawsuit filed in Louisiana on April 30, 2026, asks a court to block Gov. Jeff Landry's executive order that suspended the state's U.S. House primary after the Supreme Court struck down the state's second majority-Black congressional district — even as more than 100,000 absentee ballots had already been mailed to voters. The case, Garcia et al. v. Landry et al., was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana and seeks emergency relief to restore the May 16 congressional primary and ensure ballots already cast are counted.

The Details

Landry issued the executive order suspending Louisiana's U.S. House primary election after the Supreme Court ruled that the state's second majority-Black congressional district was unconstitutional, according to AP News and ABC News. The order halted both the May 16 primary and a potential June 27 runoff, while leaving all other races on the May ballot untouched.

Landry framed the suspension as necessary to prevent an election from proceeding under a map the high court had just invalidated. "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 released alongside the order, according to AP News and ABC News. The governor said lawmakers needed time to draw a replacement map.

The plaintiffs in Garcia et al. v. Landry et al. dispute that rationale. Their complaint, as quoted by Democracy Docket, argues the court is being asked to do something simple: "stop a state from canceling an election that is already underway." Counsel for the plaintiffs stated, according to WAFB, that "People have already voted. That should be the end of the conversation."

The scale of the disruption is significant. According to WAFB and Democracy Docket, more than 100,000 absentee ballots had already been mailed when the order was issued, and early in-person voting was scheduled to begin May 2. WAFB separately reported that 4,300 mail ballots had already been returned in East Baton Rouge Parish alone by the time the lawsuit was filed.

The complaint challenges the suspension on multiple constitutional and statutory grounds. According to WAFB and Democracy Docket, plaintiffs argue the suspension violates the Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution, federal election timing rules, and the First, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. The filing also asks the court to ensure that absentee ballots already cast are counted regardless of how the court rules on the broader question.

State officials have pushed back on that framing. According to AP News and ABC News, Louisiana's secretary of state's office declared an electoral emergency in conjunction with the governor's order, providing the administrative basis for the suspension. State officials maintain the pause is necessary to avoid running an election that would have produced results under a map the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs contend the Supreme Court did not order the May 16 election canceled, and that the governor lacks unilateral authority to suspend a federal election that has already begun. That dispute is now squarely before the federal court in the Middle District of Louisiana.

Context

The Supreme Court ruling that prompted the governor's order struck down Louisiana's second majority-Black congressional district, intensifying a redistricting fight that has unfolded across multiple states ahead of the November midterms, according to AP News and ABC News.

Louisiana currently sends four Republicans and two Democrats to the U.S. House, according to AP News and ABC News. Redrawing the congressional map could affect party control of at least one seat before the midterms, making the redistricting process a high-stakes political as well as legal question.

The competing positions now before the court reflect a live legal dispute with no settled answer. State officials say the electoral emergency declaration and the Supreme Court's map ruling together justify the pause. Plaintiffs say the governor lacks the power to unilaterally cancel a federal election once voting has already begun — a question of law the court will now have to decide.

What's Next

The plaintiffs in Garcia et al. v. Landry et al. have requested emergency relief from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, asking the court to block enforcement of the governor's order and restore the May 16 primary, according to WAFB and Democracy Docket. The request for emergency relief means the court could act quickly, given that early in-person voting was already scheduled to begin May 2.

Louisiana lawmakers will also face pressure to convene and pass a new congressional map. Landry's order cited the need for legislative action on redistricting as the reason for the suspension, according to AP News and ABC News. Whether the court grants emergency relief or not, the state's congressional map remains under a Supreme Court order requiring revision.