Alabama's Republican leadership is asking the Supreme Court to reinstate a congressional map that a federal court found intentionally discriminates against Black voters, threatening to dismantle protections that enabled the election of the state's second Black representative in 2024.
Attorney General Steve Marshall filed an emergency appeal Wednesday, one day after a three-judge panel refused to allow the state to use a map adopted three years ago that concentrates Black voters—who make up 27% of Alabama's population—into just one of seven congressional districts. The judges instead ordered Alabama to continue using a court-mandated map that includes two districts where Black residents comprise a majority or close to it.
Intentional Discrimination Found
The three-judge panel in 2023 initially ruled that the Republican-drawn map intentionally diluted the voting power of Black citizens. After the Supreme Court's recent ruling weakening the federal Voting Rights Act last month struck down a Black-majority district in Louisiana, Alabama officials moved to implement their 2023 state-drawn map. The Supreme Court's conservative majority agreed to lift the injunction blocking the map and sent the case back for reconsideration.
However, upon further review, the judicial panel stood firm, citing "undisputed evidence" of intentional racial discrimination—a finding they said was independent of and unaffected by the Supreme Court's Voting Rights Act ruling. The court ordered that special congressional primaries scheduled for Aug. 11 should proceed under the court-approved districts, not the state-drawn map.
What's at Stake for Representation
The court-ordered map led to the 2024 election of U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, a Black Democrat representing south Alabama. State Republicans are now seeking to use a map that would give the GOP an opportunity to reclaim that seat. Trump's Justice Department backed Alabama's appeal, noting that Alabama is "highly likely to succeed" in implementing a map the administration says would favor Republicans 6-1 in place of what it called a court-ordered "racial gerrymander."
Republican Gov. Kay Ivey had already set new special primaries for Aug. 11 in four congressional districts affected by the map switch, following voters casting ballots in Alabama's May 19 primaries. The state is now asking for Supreme Court action by Monday as it makes preparations for the special vote in August.
Part of Regional Pattern
The appeal represents the latest development in a broader redistricting push by Republicans in several Southern states following last month's Supreme Court ruling. The redistricting efforts are part of President Donald Trump's strategy to maintain Republicans' slim House majority in the November elections, with multiple states moving to reshape voting districts with large minority populations that have historically elected Democrats.
Why This Matters:
This case will determine whether Alabama's Black voters—more than a quarter of the state's population—can maintain meaningful representation in Congress or be packed into a single district that minimizes their political power. The lower court's finding of intentional racial discrimination represents one of the strongest judicial rebukes of modern redistricting practices, yet the Supreme Court's recent weakening of the Voting Rights Act has emboldened states to pursue maps that federal courts previously blocked. The outcome could set a precedent for how states across the South handle redistricting in communities of color, potentially reshaping the balance of power in Congress while determining whether protections against intentional racial discrimination in voting remain enforceable. For the residents of south Alabama who elected their first Black representative in decades, the decision will directly affect whether their votes continue to carry equal weight in determining their congressional representation.