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BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — A map that increases minority representation in the Louisiana Supreme Court passed out of committee in the special redistricting session. Representative Barry Ivey made his attempt to show how the state Supreme Court maps should be drawn after 25 years of staying the same.

“Doing nothing here is a vote for the status quo, it’s a vote to keep what we have,” Rep. Ivey said.

His map makes some sweeping changes which he said are largely driven by the population shifts from the north to the south. Under his map, District 2 would stretch along the state’s border from Caddo Parish and curl into East Baton Rouge Parish. District 1 would take on St. Bernard and Plaquemines. 

“I’ve tried to strike the balance, not sacrificing the good principles of redistricting for every other district,” Rep. Ivey said.

His map does create a majority-minority district by putting Baton Rouge, Shreveport, and Monroe all in one district. Some conservative representatives are concerned this forces a minority district.

“While the law is the law, it’s the various perspectives otherwise we’d all think exactly the same way… the courts exist and they’re clogged with cases with people suing because people dispute over the interpretation of the law,” Rep. Ivey said.

He has voted against some of the Congressional and House maps proposed due to them forcing a minority district where he said it does not make sense. He believes his map is compact and scores better under the criteria of redistricting than the Supreme Court map by Sen. Sharon Hewitt that has cleared the Senate committee.

Rep. Ivey’s map also brings the populations closer to the ideal number so one district is not overly packed with people like they are now.

Under the current districts the population is heavily malapportioned:

  • District 1 – 752,775
  • District 2 – 638,062
  • District 3 – 733,573
  • District 4 – 586,849
  • District 5 – 838,610
  • District 6 – 631,334
  • District 7 – 476,554

Rep. Ivey redraws the lines so the population is laid out as:

  • District 1 – 640,806
  • District 2 – 696,500
  • District 3 – 670,639
  • District 4 – 685,992
  • District 5 – 655,259
  • District 6 – 652,251
  • District 7 – 656,310

“I think it’s unfair when one judge comes from 400,000 people and another judge comes from 800,000 people,” Rep. Tanner Magee said. “It’s unfair for the judge who has to campaign, it’s unfair for people in those respective regions.” 

There have been some arguments by Republicans about the Black Voting Age Population (BVAP) between two districts being too low for voters to actually elect the candidate of their choice. Under Rep. Ivey’s map, the two majority-minority districts will have a BVAP of 56% in District 2 and 53% in District 7.

The map passed the committee with a bipartisan vote of 10-7. It will now head to the full House for debate. The maps must be finalized and voted on before the session is set to end Feb. 20 at 6 p.m.