The US Supreme Court has ruled in a 6-3 decision that Alabama can proceed with a redrawn congressional map that eliminates one of the state's two majority-Black districts for the upcoming midterm elections. This emergency ruling marks a significant victory for Republicans and another setback for Black voters, coming shortly after the court's late April ruling in Louisiana v Callais, which weakened key provisions of the Voting Rights Act.
Background of the Legal Battle
Following the 2020 census, Alabama enacted a congressional map with six Republican-leaning districts and one Democratic district, which was the only majority-Black district in the state. Black voters challenged the map, arguing that it violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting their voting power. A three-judge panel initially agreed, ordering the state to create a second district where Black voters could elect their preferred candidates. In 2023, the Supreme Court upheld that order in a 5-4 decision.
When Alabama Republicans redrew the map later that year, they passed a plan that still contained only one majority-Black district. The court blocked that map, citing discriminatory intent, and appointed a special master to draw a compliant plan with two majority-Black districts, which was used in the 2024 election and resulted in the election of two Black Democrats.
The Supreme Court's Latest Decision
After the Callais decision, Alabama took the unusual step of delaying its primaries and sought to implement the 2023 map again. The three-judge panel blocked it on 26 May, stating that voters should not be forced to use a map tainted by intentional racial discrimination. However, the Supreme Court's conservative majority overturned that block, arguing that the lower court had not given the legislature a presumption of good faith and had failed to apply the new test from Callais, which requires plaintiffs to show that alternative maps perform as well on neutral criteria like keeping coastal communities together.
In a sharp dissent, the three liberal justices accused the majority of causing chaos and abandoning the rule of law. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the majority's path leads to a chaotic election under a map that intentionally discriminates against Black Alabamians and forces last-minute changes to voter registrations, a task that Alabama itself said would take months.
The ruling is the latest chapter in a long legal dispute. Meanwhile, Governor Kay Ivey has delayed four congressional primaries until August, as the state continues to navigate the complex redistricting process.
