NEW ORLEANS — On Thursday, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the state legislative maps currently in place in Louisiana violate the Voting Rights Act.

A group of black voters and the NAACP filed the lawsuit, and the judges found maps for both the State House and the State Senate dilute the voting strength of Black residents.

Violations were found in 18 house districts and seven senate districts in many of Louisiana's largest cities, including New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

The court has blocked all elections under the invalidated maps and is giving the legislature a chance to redraw them.

If that doesn't happen, the court could issue its own maps. The changes requested by the court are significant; they could result in as many as six more majority-black house districts and thre

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