BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) 鈥� Thousands of have already cast early ballots for congressional candidates in what soon could be the wrong districts. are a week away, but the state could force a do-over for voting on U.S. House races. upended races that had been underway for months.
Republicans’ rush to across after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling is confusing voters and creating logistical headaches for local election officials. The changes are hitting while primary season is in progress.
The chaotic upheaval to an election season that could determine which party controls the U.S. House is the latest fallout from an intensely partisan gerrymandering battle initiated by last year to protect Republicans’ slim majority.
The Supreme Court’s decision last month severely weakening required Louisiana to reconsider a map drawn in 2024 with two majority minority congressional districts that elected Black representatives. The GOP-controlled Legislature could eliminate one or both in a state where of the population is Black.
The ruling also in Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee to consider eliminating four Democratic districts among them, three represented by Black lawmakers. meant to cost Democrats four of their eight seats, out of 28.
In Louisiana, 66-year-old New Orleans resident Sallie Davis voted early last week. Her ballot allowed her to vote for Democratic U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, but a sign at her polling booth showed his race crossed off with a ballpoint pen. She was confused and frustrated 鈥� especially when a poll worker told her to go with what the sign seemed to convey. She’s now worried that her entire ballot will not be counted.
“I was supposed to believe a piece of paper with an X on it marking out the person I wanted to vote for,鈥� she said, her voice breaking as she recounted her experience later. 鈥淚 think I have been disenfranchised. I think my vote, that I just voted on, it’s not going to count or something. I think it’s illegal.鈥�
Primaries postponed, deadlines compressed
Louisiana’s primary is on Saturday, and a week of early voting there began May 2, two days after the Republican governor declared an emergency and suspended congressional primaries to give lawmakers a chance to draw a new map.
Republican Secretary of State Nancy Landry’s office said nearly 179,000 primary ballots had been cast as of Friday, including about 53,000 absentee ballots returned by mail. She said the ballots included U.S. House races, but votes in those contests won’t be counted.
In Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee, Republicans justified pursuing new maps by saying that electing more Republicans would better reflect their states’ conservative values. Alabama lawmakers passed legislation Friday of congressional primaries.
Alabama鈥檚 primary is May 19, and voting in congressional races will occur then as planned, but with the old districts. Those votes would end up not counting if a court allows the switch to different districts.
Mississippi held its primaries in March, but a federal court has ordered it to redraw its state Supreme Court districts, and Trump is pushing Republicans to redraw the state’s four congressional districts.
A special session of its Legislature is set for May 20. Renovations of the House chamber will force members to meet at the Old State Capitol, where, decades ago, Mississippi lawmakers passed Jim Crow laws suppressing Black voting.
鈥淢odern-day voter suppression relies on election administration errors and chaos, and that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e going to see play out in all of these states,鈥� said Amir Badat, a Jackson, Mississippi, voting rights attorney and activist.
Tennessee continues yearlong fight
Tennessee was the first state to enact a new map since the U.S. Supreme Court decision, but Trump’s push for redistricting last year. Democrats countered and tried but ran afoul of the courts .
Before Tennessee鈥檚 GOP-controlled Legislature last week, the state鈥檚 elections coordinator told county officials in a memo what that would mean: reprogramming election systems, retraining poll workers and possibly adjusting precinct boundaries, meaning some voters鈥� polling places could change.
Tennessee’s congressional primaries still will be held Aug. 6 as planned, and candidates have until Friday to qualify for the ballot. Those who qualified previously will get a pass if they can run in a new district with the same number.
In South Carolina, lawmakers could move all the state’s June 9 primaries to August, or just the congressional races. While mail balloting is limited because the state requires an excuse to do it, more than 6,800 mail ballots already had been sent to voters 鈥� with 260 returned 鈥� as of Friday, according to the state Elections Commission.
Holding a separate election for congressional primaries would cost $3 million and the time for preparations would be compressed, Conway Belangia, the commission’s executive director, told lawmakers Friday.
鈥淚t will be difficult, but it will be possible,鈥� he said.
Activists see problems ahead for voters
Michael McClanahan, president of the NAACP’s Louisiana State Conference, is hearing 鈥渢otal confusion鈥� as voters call him and ask, “Is there an election?鈥�
鈥淧eople say, 鈥橧 ain鈥檛 going to vote because the governor鈥檚 suspended the election,'” he said. “But he didn鈥檛, he only suspended one aspect of it.鈥�
In Alabama, Senate Democratic leader Bobby Singleton said he has been fielding calls from public officials who also are confused.
鈥淭hese are the people who are the head of elections,鈥� he said. “They don鈥檛 know what to do.鈥�
Voting rights activists see problems that arose in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2022, when Republican legislators divided the state’s capital city into three congressional districts to take a seat from Democrats, as a harbinger of what Memphis voters could face this year. said more than 3,000 Nashville-area voters were assigned to incorrect districts and more than 430 cast ballots in the wrong races in the November 2022 election.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be really hard for the election commissions to be able to keep up with this short timeline,鈥� Matia Powell, executive director of the voting rights nonprofit Civic TN, said during a conference call Friday with other voting rights activists in the South.
Some fear confusion will lead to distrust and apathy
Anneshia Hardy, executive director of Alabama Values, which provides support to voting and civil rights groups, said people will lose trust in elections if they believe the rules can change every two years.
鈥淥nce people stop believing that the process is stable and fair, disengagement is going to increase, and that’s one of the biggest dangers here,鈥� she said. 鈥淒emocracy doesn鈥檛 just depend on voting systems existing but really on people believing that their participation matters.鈥�
At least a few Democratic voters who went to the Louisiana Capitol on Friday to protest the gerrymandering expressed doubt about whether they still have a political voice.
Davis came to the State Capitol in Baton Rouge and had a bullhorn with her for a protest in which she yelled, 鈥淲hose vote? Our vote!鈥�
David Victorian, a 79-year-old Vietnam veteran from Baton Rouge, said: 鈥淚鈥檓 concerned for the survival of the democracy that we鈥檙e supposed to be living in.鈥�
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Hanna reported from Topeka, Kan. Associated Press writers Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, S.C., and Kim Chandler, in Montgomery, Ala., contributed.
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