Alabama House approves new congressional district lines

The Alabama House of Representatives on Monday approved new lines for the state’s seven congressional districts as lawmakers try to get required new maps in place for the 2022 elections.

Representatives approved the plan on a 65-38 vote with about 10 Republicans joining with Democrats to oppose the new boundary lines for the seven districts. The plan now moves to the Alabama Senate.

Some Democrats raised concerns that the process was rushed and that the map packs many Black voters into a single congressional district, preventing them from affecting elections in other districts. The handful of opposed Republicans expressed concern about various changes to the lines.

Republican Rep. Chris Pringle, the co-chairman of the redistricting committee and the sponsor of the districting plan, said that lawmakers were careful to comply with the Voting Rights Act and court rulings.

“It complies with the law. It complies with our guidelines to the committee. It’s a good plan. It’s a fair plan. It’s an equitable plan,” Pringle, R-Mobile said.

Democrats have argued that Alabama, whose population is about 26% Black, should have a second congressional district with a significant African American or minority population.

The seven-member delegation has for decades included a single African American, elected from the only district with a majority Black population. The district is now represented by Rep. Terri Sewell, the only Democrat in the state’s congressional delegation.

The Republican-supported plan keeps Sewell’s District 7 with a population that is about 55% Black, while the other six districts are overwhelmingly white.

“It also serves the other purpose to make sure that those folks can’t go into the Sixth Congressional district and have any real impact on what goes on there,” Democratic Rep. Chris England of Tuscaloosa said of the GOP-backed plan.

Representatives in the evening also began debating new district lines for themselves.

Several lawmakers in both parties argued that the process had been rushed.

“It’s discouraging to me because we’re hurrying. We really don’t have the adequate, accurate information to make the kind of momentous decisions that we’re being asked to make,” said Republican Rep. Mike Holmes of Wetumpka.

Pringle said lawmakers are under a time crunch to get the maps ready in time for next year’s elections after receiving their Census data late.

The House of Representatives was resuming debate Monday evening.

The GOP-controlled Legislature in 2017 had to redraw legislative maps under court order to fix racial gerrymandering in 12 districts. The ruling came after Black lawmakers filed a lawsuit challenging the maps as “stacking and packing” Black voters into designated districts to make neighboring districts whiter and more likely to elect conservative Republicans.

Pringle said in drawing the lines this year that they did so without looking at race, based on the existing map and population changes. He said they later calculated the racial composition of districts.

The Alabama Senate advanced new lines for state Senate and state school board districts.

State senators voted 25-7 for new state Senate lines and 24-4 for new Board of Education lines. Those bills now move to the Alabama House of Representatives.

Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.