Federal judges on May 26 issued an order temporarily blocking Alabama's plan to implement a new congressional map that could help Republicans in the November elections for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Attorneys for black voters had argued that the new map discriminated against black voters.
The new ruling comes out of a long-running dispute over how congressional districts are drawn in Alabama.
Following the 2020 U.S. Census, the Republican-controlled Legislature drew a map that contained one majority-black district.
Black voters and activist groups sued, citing Section 2 nondiscrimination provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act, arguing that the map diluted minority voting power. The Supreme Court ruled 5–4 in Allen v. Milligan (2023) that the map violated the act and held that the state must create a second black-majority district.
However, the Supreme Court in Louisiana v. Callais in April narrowed how Section 2 can be used to contest maps. The high court ruled that race may only be a minor factor in redistricting rationales, not the predominant, overriding reason for how congressional districts are drawn.
The Alabama Legislature then redrew the congressional map so it gave Republicans a 6–1 advantage over Democrats.
The panel’s new ruling holds that the newest redistricting plan is “tainted by intentional race-based discrimination.”