When will Gov. John Bel Edwards veto Louisiana's redistricting maps?

Gov. John Bel Edwards has until March 14 to veto redistricting maps the Legislature approved last week, but waiting until the last minute could give lawmakers the convenience of attempting an override during their regular session, which also begins March 14.

Voter advocacy and civil rights groups are calling on Edwards, a Democrat, to reject many of the maps that will determine Louisiana’s political boundaries for the next decade. With Republicans in the majority, legislators endorsed new maps that maintain the status quo of white control of the Legislature, state school board and five of Louisiana’s six congressional seats.

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Edwards has said the new maps should reflect increases in the state’s Black and minority population. After lawmakers adjourned their redistricting session Feb. 18, the governor shared his “concerns that several of the maps do not fulfill that moral and legal requirement.”

The Louisiana Constitution gives the governor 20 days after he receives a bill to sign it into law or return it to the Legislature with a veto message. His third option, one that is seldom used, is to do nothing and allow the proposal to become law by default.

When the Legislature receives a veto message while not in session, Secretary of the Senate Yolanda Dixon said she then has two days to mail out ballots to every lawmaker asking whether they want to convene for a separate veto override session. If they vote in favor, the Constitution holds that the veto session must be held “on the fortieth day following final adjournment of the most recent session.”

According to legislative staffers, that 40-day period could be counted from Feb. 18, when the redistricting session adjourned. That would put the veto session at the end of March — in the middle of the regular session — so an alternative option could be 40 days following the adjournment of the regular session, pushing the veto session to mid-July.

“I can’t imagine they’re going to wait until 40 days after the regular session to deal with this,” said Peter Robins-Brown, policy director of Louisiana Progress, one of the groups that pushed for more minority representation through redistricting.

One possible solution staffers are exploring is to adjust the regular session schedule by allowing lawmakers to adjourn for a few days at the end of March to handle the veto override and then reconvene to finish the regular session. Things could get more complicated if Edwards vetoes an unrelated bill after the regular session and lawmakers decide they want to override it, staff members said. In that case, the Legislature would have to return to Baton Rouge for a mid-July veto session anyway.

It’s a scheduling quagmire the Legislature has never seen before and one they may not have to face if Edwards decides to use most or all of the 20 days afforded to him by the veto deadline. If the governor returns a vetoed map within two days of the March 14 regular session, lawmakers can attempt an override vote at any point during that session. It would be placed on the House and Senate calendars alongside other legislation being considered, Dixon said.

Sen. Sharon Hewitt, R-Slidell, who chaired the Senate redistricting committee, said she would “100%” push for a veto override if Edwards rejects any of the maps. Any override attempts would likely take place during the regular session, she added.

Matthew Block, the governor’s executive counsel, said he was not aware of the timeline that Dixon explained. The governor does not have any strategic plans to deliver vetoes on a date that would create more obstacles for a legislative override, he said.

Regardless of gubernatorial vetoes, lawmakers and political insiders expect the courts will have the final word on Louisiana’s maps.

Democrats and voter rights groups grew hopeful when a federal court ordered the Alabama Legislature to redraw a congressional map that — like the map Louisiana lawmakers passed — failed to adequately represent its minority population. However, the right-leaning U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay on the decision, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh explaining in his opinion that Alabama lawmakers would not have enough time to redraw the map before its next election.

The Supreme Court, which has issued rulings that trim back parts of the Voting Rights Act in recent years, said it would consider the merits of the Alabama case later. That’s not likely to happen until after the November elections, which will decide the balance of power in Congress.

With the Supreme Court’s Alabama decision in mind, many in Louisiana are keeping an eye on how much time any vetoes and subsequent overrides might take before lawsuits work their way through the courts in Louisiana.

Regardless of how long, Robins-Brown said the governor should focus on the best outcome for all residents of Louisiana.

“The longer the veto and potential veto-override process goes on, the longer it will take to get to the litigation process,” he said. “But I don’t think that should be a concern for Gov. Edwards. His primary focus should be doing what he thinks is right, especially since the Supreme Court, in their ruling on the Alabama case, made it clear that they’re not in a hurry to rule on the merits of these VRA cases.”

— The Louisiana Illuminator is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization driven by its mission to cast light on how decisions are made in Baton Rouge and how they affect the lives of everyday Louisianians, particularly those who are poor or otherwise marginalized.

This article originally appeared on The Courier: When will Gov. John Bel Edwards veto Louisiana's redistricting maps?