BATON ROUGE — A special election to fill a vacant judge's post in Baton Rouge's 19th Judicial District will proceed this weekend using a new map put in place by lawmakers and the governor this summer.

The new makeup for the Division O seat was challenged on grounds that when Gov. Jeff Landry called the election last winter, the judgeship covered a larger territory. The 1st Circuit Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday that a new map lawmakers approved this year was valid.

The judges' logic: the new law took effect before any candidate had qualified for the contest. By the time candidates could begin signing up, the old district no longer existed.

Early voting opens Saturday and Election Day is Oct. 11. Absentee ballots have already been mailed.

Voters in the newly drawn Division O will relect a replacement for Wilson Fields, who was elected to the 1st Circuit. The new Division O has 1,781 fewer voters than the previous one.

Lawyer Karl Koch said that since Landry called the special election before the new map was authorized, the older map should still be used. "The legislation doesn't have the authority to come in and say, ‘Oh well, wait a minute. We're going to change that, governor. We're going to do it here instead,’" Koch said in arguments Tuesday.

Initially, the parish had three election districts but shifting demographics led lawmakers to set up two.

The election is to select a judge who will serve until the end of 2026.