Federal Court Orders Alabama to Adopt New Congressional Redistricting Map, Giving Black Voters Greater Voice in State Elections

Alabama is set to have a second congressional district with a majority Black electorate after a federal court ordered the state to adopt a new congressional redistricting map on Thursday. This comes after a long battle between the courts and Alabama Republicans over the political lines in the state.

Alabama is more than 26% Black, but state Republicans had drawn maps so that only one of the state’s seven congressional seats would be majority Black, despite a federal court and the U.S. Supreme Court ruling against them. The three-judge panel for the U.S. district court in Alabama ordered the state to use the new lines in the 2024 elections.

The judges stepped in to oversee the drawing of a new map after ruling last month that Alabama lawmakers flouted their instruction to fix a Voting Rights Act violation and create a second majority-Black district or something “quite close to it.” The three-judge panel selected one of three plans proposed by a court-appointed expert that alters the bounds of Congressional District 2, now represented by Republican Rep.

The new map is expected to give Black voters in Alabama a greater voice in the state’s congressional elections. This could have a significant impact on the 2024 elections, as the new map will be in effect for the first time. It is unclear how the new map will affect the political landscape in Alabama, but it is likely to have a major impact on the state’s congressional delegation.

The new map is a victory for civil rights activists who have long argued that the state’s congressional districts were drawn in a way that diluted the voting power of Black voters. This ruling is a step towards ensuring that all Alabamians have an equal voice in the state’s political process.