On Tuesday, the federal three-judge Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals judges panel released a 196-page ruling tossing out Alabama’s partisan congressional redistricting map passed along partisan lines in a July special session of the Alabama Legislature.
Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-AL07), who represents Alabama’s only majority-minority congressional district, released a statement following the federal court decision striking down the Alabama State Legislature’s 2023 Congressional Map and Appointing a Special Master to draw Alabama’s congressional districts.
“Today’s decision is yet another victory for Black voters in Alabama and for the promise of fair representation,” Rep. Sewell said. “By appointing a special master to fairly redraw Alabama’s congressional map, the court has rejected the state legislature’s latest attempt to dilute the voices and voting power of African Americans all across our state.”
“While we were outraged by the Alabama State Legislature’s open defiance of the Supreme Court’s original order to create two majority-minority districts, I am nonetheless grateful that a federal court has now intervened to protect the voices of Alabama’s Black voters,” Sewell concluded. “The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is indeed alive and enforceable!”
The ruling means that a special master will draw up new congressional redistricting maps after both the 2021 and 2023 maps prepared by the Republican-dominated Alabama State Legislature have been set aside by the three-judge panel.
Most legal observers expect that the state of Alabama will appeal this ruling. As of press time, there has been no comment from Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office.
The Alabama Republican Party expressed their disappointment in the decision in a statement.
“While we respect the Court, we are disappointed in its decision, and we trust that the State will ultimately prevail in this litigation,” the ALGOP said.
The Special Master is expected to draw the state’s new Congressional Districts maps by September 25. Major party qualifying for the 2024 election begins in October. Congress members do not have to live in the district in which they run, but they are required to live in the state.
The major party primaries will be held on March 5.
Alabama is currently represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by six Republican White men and one Democratic Black woman – Sewell. The special master does not have to worry about the compactness of the districts, keeping communities of interest together, or avoiding placing two or more congressional incumbents in the same district. The state could still contest the special master’s map.
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