Governor Kay Ivey on Tuesday issued the proclamation to call the Alabama Legislature into a special session beginning at 2:00 p.m. Monday, July 17, 2023, to address congressional redistricting.
“It is critical that Alabama be fairly and accurately represented in Washington,” said Gov. Ivey. “That is why I support the Alabama Legislature readdressing our congressional map in a special session beginning July 17. It is of the utmost importance that this special session only address the congressional map and nothing else. The task at hand is too urgent and too important. The Alabama Legislature has one chance to get this done before the July 21 court deadline. Our Legislature knows our state, our people and our districts better than the federal courts or activist groups do.”
The special session is necessary because a special three-judge panel at the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the 2021 Congressional redistricting violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that the Eleventh Circuit ruling was correct. The three-judge panel has ordered the state Legislature to prepare a new redistricting plan with two majority-minority districts or something as close to that as possible by July 21.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Joint Committee on Reapportionment is holding a public hearing on the proposed redistricting.
There were efforts by some to get additional issues, such as gambling or absentee ballot reform, placed in the call. Gov. Ivey has rejected those efforts.
If the Legislature fails to produce a new congressional redistricting plan or if the plan that they submit to the federal appeals court is not satisfactory to the court, then the court will appoint a special master to reapportion the state himself.
This will be the second 2023 special session of the Legislature. The first appropriated $1,030,000,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds. The 2023 Alabama Regular Legislative Session has already ended.
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