Southern Poverty Law Center and Vermillion NAACP press Abbeville committee to adopt near‑proportional redistricting map; committee forwards ordinance to council

Ahmed Susi of the Southern Poverty Law Center told an Abbeville committee on redistricting that his clients, the Vermillion NAACP, had repeatedly warned the city that the current four‑district plan produced unequal voting power and could prompt litigation. "If you just look at the numbers of the differences of the each four city council districts in the agos map that has a 200 person difference. If you look at the Vermilion NAACP map there is a 20 person difference," Susi said, arguing the smaller deviation would better reflect "one person, one vote."

Susi identified himself as counsel for the Vermillion NAACP and said his organization has sent letters to the city in 2021, 2022 and September 2023 proposing alternative maps and warning of potential Section 2 Voting Rights Act and 14th Amendment concerns. He said the NAACP map keeps District D as a majority‑Black district while "unpacking" what he described as an overconcentration of Black voters in the current map: "The total population in district is 70% total black population. that is packing a district of black voters. What our map does is it unpacks that... still keeps it a majority black district, but allows everyone in Abbeville have equal voting power."

City attorney Jordan responded that the specific cause of action in the pending litigation does not hinge on claims typically labeled "packing" or "cracking," and cautioned that the version of the plaintiffs' map presented most recently differs from the one filed with the court. "Those buzzwords may prick some ears up, but really they're irrelevant under the situation," Jordan said, and added that offering multiple maps could create voter confusion.

After public comment, a committee member moved to consider an ordinance to redistrict "according with federal [and] state laws," a motion that was seconded by Councilwoman Brousard. The committee discussed local impacts and then conducted a roll call in which Councilman Camp, Councilwoman Brussoy, the council chair and Councilman Cleos were recorded as voting yes; the chair described the result as unanimous and the committee voted to send the ordinance to the full council for final action.

Why it matters: Susi told the committee the city has an opportunity to adopt a map ahead of the 2026 election to reduce population deviation among districts and avoid further litigation. The committee vote to forward the ordinance means the full council will consider the proposed map at a later meeting.

The committee did not adopt a final map; the full council will vote on the ordinance. The plaintiff's and city's competing legal analyses (and the precise maps submitted) remain part of the ongoing record.