by Misty Severi
The Supreme Court halted an order Monday that required Alabama to use a House map that contains two predominantly black districts, clearing the way for the state to eliminate one of the districts before the November midterms.
The order comes after the high court struck down maps last week that added a second majority black district in Louisiana, ruling the map was unconstitutional because it contained race-based districts and thereby narrowed the scope of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
Alabama officials cited the Louisiana case as a reason for the Supreme Court to end the judicial order to use a court-imposed House map until after the 2030 census, according to the Associated Press, which could allow the state to revert to a 2023 map that includes just one district where black residents comprise the majority.
The Alabama ruling comes as multiple states attempt to redraw their congressional maps, including Florida and Texas, and comes as Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee also move to respond to the recent Supreme Court ruling.
In reaction to the ruling, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the state won a “majority victory” at the Supreme Court.
“For too long, unelected federal judges have had more say over Alabama’s elections than Alabama’s voters. That ended today. My job: put the Legislature in position to draw a map that favors Republicans 7-0. Done,” he said.
– – –
Misty Severi is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
