BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The next step to challenge Louisiana’s congressional map happened Monday at the Middle District Court of Lousiana.

Civil rights groups are turning to the federal court, in what will be a week-long hearing, to block the congressional maps.

Advocates against the map have been vocal, saying it severely diluted Black votes. Experts have been brought into the courtroom, showing examples of alternative maps that shift two districts giving the Black voting population the majority.

Redistricting Council for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Kathryn Sadasivan said the fight for fair redistricting is not over.

“The redistricting process in Louisiana is still underway because we’re here and you know I hope that ordinary people, people in the state can understand how important redistricting is to their daily lives,” Sadasivan said. “It’s not solely about political candidates and who wins elections, it’s about federal funding, it’s about schools, it’s about advocating for disaster relief.”

In March, advocacy groups filed a lawsuit after the maps were passed by the state legislature. This hearing could result in those maps being blocked from use in upcoming elections while litigation continues.