A federal court on Tuesday struck down Alabama Republicans’ latest discriminatory congressional map and assigned a special master to ensure the state actually complies with the Voting Rights Act this time around. The state was ordered to create a second majority-Black district.
The Supreme Court shocked everyone in June, ruling 5–4 that Republican-drawn congressional districts in Alabama discriminated against Black voters under the Voting Rights Act. The high court ordered Alabama to redraw the map to include at least two majority-Black districts. But Alabama has repeatedly tried to redraw districts in a way that keeps the status quo and dilutes Black votes.
“We are deeply troubled that the State enacted a map that the State readily admits does not provide the remedy we said federal law requires,” the three-judge panel said in the Tuesday ruling. “We are disturbed by the evidence that the State delayed remedial proceedings but ultimately did not even nurture the ambition to provide the required remedy.”
The judges assigned a special master to oversee the new map.
This is a developing story.