US Supreme Court allows Louisiana voting map with two Black-majority districts

The U.S. Supreme Court restored a Louisiana electoral map that has two of the state's six congressional districts with Black-majority populations for use in the Nov. 5 election - a ruling on Wednesday with potential implications for which party will control the U.S. House of Representatives.

The justices granted a request by state officials and a group of Black voters to temporarily halt a federal three-judge panel's decision throwing out Louisiana's newly redrawn map that includes two Black-majority U.S. House districts, rather than the one present in a previous version. Black voters tend to support Democratic candidates.

The judicial panel on April 30 had ruled 2-1 that the map was chiefly influenced by race in violation of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection, and ordered that a new map be drawn.

The panel's decision was the latest development in a long-running legal fight over the boundaries of Louisiana's U.S. House districts. Republicans hold a 217-213 margin in the House. Ongoing legal battles over redistricting in several states could be enough to determine whether Republicans retain control or Democrats regain a majority.