Federal judges recently ruled that Alabama officially violated the Voting Rights Act when they redrew a new electoral map in 2023 and included only one majority-Black congressional district.
Last Thursday, the three-judge panel announced that they permanently blocked Alabama from using the new proposed map as it violated the voting rights and strength of Black residents. In the 571-page ruling, they reprimanded the legislature for recreating a previously denied electoral map. In order to create one that is in line with the Voting Rights Act, the judges mandated that a second district featuring a substantial number of Black voters should be added.
The Attorney General of the state did not respond to the ruling, but the state is reportedly expected to appeal.
The ruling marked a win according to the plaintiffs, as the state has a history of ruling against the Voting Rights Act.
“Today’s decision is a testament to the persistence and resilience of Black voters in Alabama, including our clients,” said the deputy director of litigation at the Legal Defense Fund, Deuel Ross, per CBS News. “Alabama’s unprecedented defiance of the Supreme Court and the lower court orders harkens back to the darkest days of American history.”
The beginnings of the case stem all the way back to 2021. Brought on behalf of Evan Milligan, Khadidah Stone, Letetia Jackson, Shalela Dowdy, the Greater Birmingham Ministries and the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP, the 2021 lawsuit argued that the map, which mirrored the one that was drawn up in 2023, violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
In the map, six out of seven districts were majority white, even though Black Alabamians make up 27% of the state’s population.
Today a panel of 3 federal judges issued a 571-page decision holding that Alabama discriminated against Black voters and upholding our map. Specifically, the court stated: “The Legislature knew what federal law
— Janai Nelson (@JNelsonLDF) May 9, 2025
required & purposefully refused to provide it.” 2/5 pic.twitter.com/UAO1Wz164N
In response, the state chose to ignore the decision- a choice that the panel reprimanded in their latest decision.
“The Legislature knew what federal law required and purposefully refused to provide it, in a strategic attempt to checkmate the injunction that ordered it,” said the panel in their ruling.
For the 2024 election, federal courts drew up a temporary map.
The usage of the redrawn lines led to the residents electing two Black politicians to Congress for the first time in 150 years, occupying two out of seven seats in the House of Representatives. One of the politicians included Democrat Rep. Shomari Figures.
With the latest ruling, the plaintiffs are looking to make a similar map permanent. They are also asking the federal court to implement federal preclearance for future districting plans.
Alabama has not had to give preclearance since a 2013 Supreme Court ruling of the case Shelby County v. Holder.
