Supreme Court Rejects Alabama Republicans’ Attempt to Use Unfair Congressional Map for Upcoming Elections

The Supreme Court on Tuesday handed a defeat to Alabama Republicans for the second time in three months, declining requests to use a congressional map drawn by GOP state lawmakers in July for upcoming elections. The court refused emergency requests from Republican state officials to block lower court rulings that invalidated the new map, leaving in force a lower court decision that blocked the district lines because they likely ran afoul of federal law.

The filings from Alabama Republicans again sought the Supreme Court’s intervention in the long-running dispute over the state’s congressional map. The court denied a pair of requests for emergency relief that were sought by the state. Lower court proceedings to approve a new map are still ongoing.

The decision was in line with the Supreme Court ruling against the state in June that reaffirmed a key provision of the landmark Voting Rights Act. The ruling means that work on a new congressional map by a special master appointed by a federal district court will continue.

The dispute over the congressional map has been ongoing for several years, with the state’s Republican-controlled legislature attempting to draw a map that would give them an advantage in elections. This is the second time in three months that the Supreme Court has rejected the state’s attempts to use the map.

The Supreme Court’s decision is a victory for voting rights advocates, who have argued that the map drawn by the state legislature was an attempt to suppress the votes of minority groups. The court’s decision will ensure that the state’s congressional map is drawn in a way that is fair and equitable for all voters.