BATON ROUGE - While California and Texas continue going back and forth amid a fresh redistricting battle, a Louisiana one has been going on for years.

For the past couple of years, Louisiana lawmakers have had to draw and redraw the congressional maps, determining whether they follow the Voting Rights Act. This fall, they could be back at it again. Arguments are slated for Oct. 15 on whether a congressional map used last year can continue to be used.

The map approved last year garnered bipartisan support and created a second majority minority district, stretching from Baton Rouge to Shreveport.

Not long after, a lawsuit was filed saying it relied too much on race. Former State Senator and current Congressman Cleo Fields said at the time, the lines were drawn that way because of politics.

"Now if there are courts that can take politics out of politics, then let me hear how you do that," Fields said when the maps were approved.

A year later, the state could be back at it again, drawing lines and creating districts.

This fall, the Supreme Court is expected to decide whether the current map complies with the Voting Rights Act.

"There are just so many variables that we can't say with certainty what the Supreme Court will do," Political analyst James Hartman said.

The Voting Rights Act bans discrimination in the election process, ensuring all votes carry the same power. About one-third of Louisiana's population is black. State Representative C. Denise Marcelle says she presented other maps last year, but this is the one most lawmakers could agree on.

"Louisiana should have another African American seat, but the question then becomes, how do you draw that map?" Rep. C. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, said.

After defending a district map last year, Attorney General Liz Murrill is now suggesting to the Supreme Court that the Constitution forbids sorting voters by skin color. "I am grateful that the Court has now asked the parties to brief whether this entire system is constitutional," Attn. General Liz Murrill said. "My answer: it is not. Our Constitution sees neither black voters nor white voters; it sees only American voters."

It's possible lawmakers could create a new map for 2026 ahead of a Supreme Court decision.

No date has officially been set in stone for that special session.