A federal court on Monday ruled that Alabama’s newly drawn congressional map violates the Voting Rights Act, and blocked the map from coming into effect.
The court cited Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, and said that the new Alabama map violated it because it only includes one district where Black voters would have the opportunity to elect a candidate of their preference. Federal judges said that Alabama should have two districts, not just one, where Black voters make up a sizable portion of the voting population.
The ruling said that Black voters in the state have less opportunity than other Alabama voters to elect Congressional candidates of their choice. The plaintiffs will “suffer an irreparable harm” if they were forced to vote in the upcoming 2022 elections based on this redistricting plan, the ruling said.
The legislature now has two weeks to draw a new map, with the instruction to include two districts in which Black voters “either comprise a voting-age majority” or something close to that.
Alabama has a congressional delegation of seven members. Six of those are Republicans, and they were elected in mainly white districts. The sole Democrat comes from the only district with a Black majority.
Alabama’s ballot qualification, which was set for January 28, has also been moved to February 11.
Former US Attorney General Eric Holder said that the court’s decision is a win for Black voters in Alabama, who have for far too long been denied equal representation. His statement was released by the National Redistricting Foundation, an organization that supported the case’s plaintiffs.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office said the office strongly disagreed with the decision, and that they would be filing an appeal soon.
This map marks the second one that has been blocked by judges during the current round of redistricting. In Ohio, the state Supreme Court ruled earlier in January that the new state map was a partisan gerrymander, and that it violated the state constitution.
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