Mississippi lawmakers will return to the state capitol for a special session.
In a Friday afternoon announcement, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said lawmakers will head back to Jackson to redraw the state’s current Supreme Court electoral map 21 days after the federal high court issues a decision in Louisiana v. Callais, a case expected to impact portion of the federal Voting Rights Act. It is unclear when the nation’s high court will rule in the case, but it is widely believed to happen in the coming months.
Mississippi’s legislature was previously tasked by a federal judge with updating the state Supreme Court electoral map, following a December ruling that the current one dilutes Black voting power. Judge Sharion Aycock for the Northern District of Mississippi instructed lawmakers to redraw lines during the 2026 regular session, but the legislature elected not to do so before SCOTUS made a move on a case that could be relevant in Mississippi.
“During the recently completed regular session, the Legislature discussed drawing new maps to comply with a decision from a federal judge from the Northern District of Mississippi – a decision that has been appealed to the 5th Circuit and the appeal has been heretofore stayed pending future U.S. Supreme Court decisions,” Reeves wrote.
SCOTUS is currently mulling the case centered around a challenge to Louisiana’s congressional map. In 2022, the Louisiana Legislature created a congressional map that only included one majority-Black district out of six, despite African Americans accounting for roughly 33% of the state’s population.
The map was almost instantly taken to court by groups arguing that it violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965. A federal appeals court later sided with plaintiffs, and Louisiana lawmakers were tasked with going back to the drawing board. In 2024, the legislature enacted a new congressional map that included two majority-Black districts.
Louisiana’s new congressional map was promptly challenged, with opponents saying creating a second majority-Black district was the result of unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.
“The entire world knows the Callais decision has not yet been handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court. It is a decision that could (and in my view should) forever change the way we draw electoral maps,” Reeves added. “It is my belief and federal law requires that the Mississippi Legislature be given the first opportunity to draw these maps. And the fact is, they haven’t had a fair opportunity to do that because of the pending Callais decision.”
SCOTUS has heard arguments in the Callais case with the court’s next opinion day scheduled for April 29. It is unclear if an opinion will be issued then or later on.
Reeves is hopeful SCOTUS will rule against the idea that maps can be drawn based on race, arguing that “when the government classifies its citizens on the basis of race, even as a perceived remedy to right a wrong, it engages in the offensive and demeaning assumption that Americans of a particular race, because of their race, think alike and share the same interests and preferences.”