(Reuters) – The Republican-controlled legislature of Alabama was under pressure to approve a new congressional map by Friday, with the goal of boosting the number of Black voters in one of the state’s districts. The move came after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the current map was unconstitutional and violated the Voting Rights Act, citing its failure to protect minority voters’ rights.
However, critics, including Democrats and civil rights groups, were quick to point out that the proposed maps in the state’s Republican-dominated House of Representatives and state Senate fell far short of complying with the court order and safeguarding minority voting rights as mandated by the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
In response to the Supreme Court’s ruling in June, which upheld a lower court’s finding that the previous Republican-drawn map illegally diluted the voting power of Black residents, Alabama’s legislature convened a special session to create a revised map. This map was in place during the 2022 midterm elections when Republicans secured a narrow 222-213 majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. The addition of another majority-Black district could increase Democrats’ chances of gaining another seat in the 2024 elections.
Both chambers of Alabama’s state legislature, where Republicans hold about three-quarters of the seats, passed conflicting maps on Wednesday, and they had until the end of the day to decide which version to advance.
However, the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case were not satisfied with either map and pledged to challenge them in court, arguing that both versions would still violate the law and suppress Black voters’ participation in the democratic process.
Scott Douglas, the executive director at Greater Birmingham Ministries and one of the plaintiffs, expressed his dismay, stating, “Alabama lawmakers appear hell-bent on preventing Black voters from fully participating in the democratic process, and they are blatantly ignoring their constituents, federal law, and the highest court of the land to disenfranchise us.”
Alabama’s population is over one-quarter Black, but out of the state’s seven congressional districts, only the 7th district holds a Black majority. The state’s sole Democratic U.S. House member, Terri Sewell, represents that district.
The federal district court invalidated the current map in 2022, and after the Supreme Court upheld this decision, they ordered the legislature to produce an updated plan by the deadline, requiring the inclusion of two districts with either a Black majority or a population “quite close” to a majority.
Republican leaders argued that the proposed maps would meet the court’s directive, intending to retain the 7th district as the state’s lone majority-Black district while increasing the percentage of voting-age Black residents in the 2nd district from around 31% to either 38% or 42%.
However, Black Democratic lawmakers condemned the maps, seeing them as a disregard for Black voters and the courts. Juandalynn Givan, a Jefferson County legislator, described the Republican plan as an embarrassment and accused it of dropping “an F-bomb on the United States Supreme Court.”
Redistricting expert Michael Li from New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice stated that the proposed maps’ allotment did not come close enough to a majority to truly empower Black voters to choose their representative. He pointed out that although some places in the country might elect a Black-preferred candidate with a 42% Black district, Alabama’s stark racially polarized voting patterns would not allow for such representation.
The map ultimately approved by the legislature would require approval from the same federal three-judge panel. If the court finds the new map still illegal, a court-appointed special master would draw an alternative version to be used in the 2024 congressional election.
In a separate case, a New York state appeals court recently ordered lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional map, potentially enabling the Democratic-controlled legislature to flip as many as six Republican-held U.S. House seats through a partisan plan, a move opposed by Republicans.
Credit: The Star : News Feed
