Civil rights groups say Purcell principle prevents Louisiana from suspending elections when votes have already been cast

Louisiana is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to quickly certify its ruling gutting the Voting Rights Act so the state can eliminate its majority-Black districts in time for this fall’s midterms. But Black voters argue that time-table would violate a key legal principle that courts shouldn’t change voting rules and maps so close to the election, because of the risk of voter confusion.

The principle, known as Purcell, has been embraced by several members of the court’s conservative majority.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R ) last week declared an “emergency” suspension of the state’s U.S. House of Representatives primary election in light of the Supreme Court’s  ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, saying the order gives the state permission to immediately redraw its congressional district maps.

However, in a brief filed with SCOTUS, civil rights groups contend that under the court’s own history of applying “the Purcell principle,” it is too late into the election season to suspend it.

More than 100,000 absentee ballots have already been sent out to Louisiana voters, and early voting began on May 2. 

Suspending “the primary after ballots have already been cast would cause chaos in th election process and leave voters and candidates hopelessly confused, in clear violation of the principles this Court articulated in Purcell and subsequent decisions,” wrote the civil rights groups in their appeal. 

The brief references the 2020 Democratic National Committee v. Wisconsin State Legislature ruling. 

“The Court’s precedents recognize a basic tenet of election law: When an election is close at hand, the rules of the road should be clear and settled … because running a statewide election is a complicated endeavor,” that ruling held. 

While SCOTUS’ Callais ruling has been rendered, there’s still a 32-day period before the justices certify the judgement and send it back to the lower court where the case originated. The defendants also have a 25-day window to seek a re-hearing of the case. 

The governor’s suspension of the U.S. House elections jumps ahead of that certification deadline, in order to expedite a map that will remove Black representation and give the GOP even more of an advantage.

“Such a drastic action is unnecessary and unwarranted,” reads the civil rights groups’ appeal. “This Court should therefore clarify that the judgment has not issued and the stay remains in place until it does” – in other words, state lawmakers need to wait until SCOTUS officially hands judgement down to the lower court before proceeding with redistricting plans. 

Speaking at a press conference today, Rep. Cleo Fields (D-La.), whose own majority-Black district is endangered under the Callais ruling, said he’s encouraging voters to continue casting ballots during the current early voting period, which ends May 9. 

However, President Donald Trump is actively calling for Louisiana, and other states such as Alabama that are chomping at the bit to erase Black districts from their maps, to cancel or nullify current elections. 

In Louisiana’s case, that would mean people who’ve already cast ballots would then have to vote again once new maps are drawn. 

“I think that people are too caught up into what the President says,” said Rep. Fields, who has joined one of several lawsuits filed to stop the elections suspension. “He says, ‘I need 20 more seats, you know, let’s do it! We’ve got a ruling, so let’s go!’ But at the end of the day, the Supreme Court did not say, ‘Halt the election,’ nor should it. And we’re going to let the Supreme Court make a decision fairly soon about whether or not Louisiana can do what it did.”

SCOTUS ruled in a 2006 voting case, Purcell v. Gonzalez, that courts should not interfere or change a state’s voting rules too close to an election, to prevent mass voter confusion. That kind of confusion could itself become a form of voter suppression or intimidation, for those fearful that sudden changes could lead to them getting penalized for voting incorrectly. 

There is some vagueness around the question of how close to an election is too close when applying this principle. However, in the Louisiana case, the situation has already moved too close for comfort, the Black voters argue.  “Appellants understand that many voters across the state have already voted and returned those ballots,” reads the appeals brief. 

According to the Louisiana Secretary of State’s early voting report, nearly 80,000 votes had been cast as of May 3. However, Secretary of State Nancy Landry (R) announced on April 30 that her office would post notices on early voting sites telling voters that the U.S. House race has been suspended. 

“While the U.S. House races will remain on voters’ ballots, any votes cast in those races will not be counted,” said Landry.

Rep. Fields is imploring people to continue voting anyway. 

“Don’t listen to the governor, don’t listen to the Secretary of State about not voting the entire ticket,” said Rep. Fields. “That election is suspended for now, but that doesn’t mean that it will be suspended tomorrow. There are other recourses that can be taken, and we’ve taken those recourses.”