Supreme Court allows Alabama to use GOP-backed congressional map for midterms

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an emergency order allowing Alabama to use a congressional map adopted by the state legislature in 2023 that includes one majority-Black district for the upcoming midterm elections, the court said. The court granted Alabama’s emergency appeal. The three liberal justices dissented.

The state and Republican lawmakers sought to revive the legislature-drawn map that they say was improperly blocked. Voting-rights groups and a three-judge federal panel had argued the map diluted Black voting power and in a separate order had required Alabama to use a court-drawn map with two districts in which Black voters are a majority or have an opportunity to elect their preferred candidates, the panel said.

In an unsigned opinion, the court wrote that “The State has also made a strong showing of irreparable harm and that the equities and public interest favor it,” and added that lower federal courts should not “alter the election rules on the eve of an election.” The court’s order followed its decision last month to vacate a lower court ruling and send the case back for further review.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent that the map discriminates against Black Alabamians. “Before the Court are two paths,” she wrote. “Down one lies an orderly election, held under a tried-and-tested congressional map that protects Black Alabamians’ right to vote… Down the other lies a chaotic election, held under a never-before-used congressional map that intentionally discriminates against Black Alabamians” and would require rapid changes to voter registrations, she said.

Republican Gov. Kay Ivey hailed the decision and said Alabama’s Aug. 11 special primary would be conducted under the 2023 map. “The U.S. Supreme Court confirmed what I have said all along and that is that Alabama knows our state, our people and our districts best,” Ivey said in a statement, adding, “I will see y’all at the polls August 11!” The ACLU criticized the ruling. Davin Rosborough, deputy director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, said the decision “delays relief for voters who have already spent years fighting for an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice” and promised continued legal efforts on behalf of Black Alabamians, the group said.

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