A federal court has blocked Alabama’s Republican-backed congressional map, saying it is likely in violation of the Voting Rights Act.
The Monday decision by a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit gives Alabama’s Legislature two weeks to redraw its new map for House seats, designed to elect six Republicans and one Democrat, in a black-majority district.
The judges ordered a map that includes “two districts in which Black voters either comprise a voting-age majority or something quite close to it.” The judges ruled the initial map only contained one district that gave black voters the opportunity to elect a candidate of their preference.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office released a statement Monday evening saying it “strongly disagreed” with the ruling and vowed to appeal the decision. The case would go to the Supreme Court on appeal.
If Alabama legislators do not pass a new map within 14 days, judges said the court would appoint a special master for the task.
Plaintiffs consolidated three separate lawsuits into a case, arguing the single district created a racial gerrymander blocking black voters living outside the 7th Congressional District from joining other like-minded voters to elect candidates of their choice.
OHIO SUPREME COURT NIXES NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAP, SQUELCHING STRONG GOP GERRYMANDER
At issue here: the GOP-passed Alabama map keeps Black voters packed in just one district, #AL07 (left), when it would be possible to draw *two* comfortable Black opportunity seats (hypothetical #AL06 and #AL07, right). pic.twitter.com/zQHeYvTS4w
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) January 25, 2022
“The state’s intentional policy of disempowerment and discrimination has resulted in the denial of equal opportunity for Black people to participate in the political process in violation of the U.S. Constitution and the VRA,” according to a brief in Milligan v. Merrill, one of the cases weighed by judges.
The three-judge panel on the 11th Circuit that unanimously signed the opinion is composed of two federal district court judges appointed by former President Donald Trump and one by former President Bill Clinton.
“This decision is a win for Alabama’s black voters, who have been denied equal representation for far too long,” said Eric H. Holder Jr., chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, adding that the creation of one majority-black district “was as evident as it was reprehensible.”
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Monday’s decision in Alabama marks the second congressional district map blocked by judges in the current redistricting round. Ohio’s Supreme Court issued a similar ruling earlier this month, accusing the state’s map of being a partisan gerrymander that violated the state constitution.
This Washington Examiner contacted Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill for comment but did not receive a response.
