Plaintiffs in voting rights case urge judges to toss Alabama’s new congressional map

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Voting rights activists are returning to court docket to struggle Alabama’s redrawn congressional districts, saying state Republicans didn’t observe federal court docket orders to create a district that’s truthful to Black voters.

Plaintiffs within the high-profile redistricting case filed a written objection Friday to oppose Alabama’s new redistricting plan. They accused state Republicans of flouting a judicial mandate to create a second majority-Black district or “something quite close to it” and enacting a map that continues to discriminate in opposition to Black voters within the state.

A particular three-judge panel in 2022 blocked use of the the state’s present districts and mentioned any new congressional map ought to embrace two districts the place “Black voters either comprise a voting-age majority” or one thing shut. That panel’s choice was appealed by the state however upheld in June in a shock ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which concurred that having just one Black-majority district out of seven – in a state the place a couple of in 4 residents is Black – seemingly violated federal regulation.

The plaintiffs within the case, represented by the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and different teams, requested the three-judge panel to step in and draw new strains for the state.

“Alabama’s new congressional map ignores this court’s preliminary injunction order and instead perpetuates the Voting Rights Act violation that was the very reason that the Legislature redrew the map,” attorneys representing the plaintiffs within the case wrote.

The new map enacted by the Republican-controlled Alabama Legislature maintained one-majority Black district however boosted the proportion of Black voters within the majority-white 2nd Congressional District, now represented by Republican Rep. Barry Moore, from about 30% to 39.9%

Lawyers representing plaintiffs within the case wrote Friday that the revamped district “does not provide Black voters a realistic opportunity to elect their preferred candidates in any but the most extreme situations.” They accused state Republicans of ignoring the courts’ directive to prioritize a district that will keep underneath GOP management “pleasing national leaders whose objective is to maintain the Republican Party’s slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.”

Alabama has maintained the brand new plan complies with the Voting Rights Act, and state leaders are wagering that the panel will settle for their proposal or that the state will prevail in a second spherical of appeals to the Supreme Court. Republicans argued that the map meets the court docket’s directive and attracts compact districts that adjust to redistricting pointers.

The state should file its protection of the map by Aug. 4. The three judges have scheduled an Aug. 14 listening to within the case because the struggle over the map shifts again to federal court docket.

The end result may have penalties throughout the nation because the case once more weighs the necessities of the Voting Rights Act in redistricting. It may additionally impression the partisan leanings of 1 Alabama congressional district within the 2024 elections with management of the U.S House of Representatives at stake.

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, mentioned in an announcement that Alabama’s new map is a “brazen defiance” of the courts.