Alabama lawmakers passed legislation Friday that would allow the state to delay congressional primary elections if federal courts approve a new district map amid renewed legal and political battle over redistricting in the South ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The Republican-backed bill, approved after heated debate in the Alabama legislature, would give Gov. Kay Ivey (R-AL) authority to postpone or reschedule House primaries in districts affected by possible court-ordered map changes.
The legislation comes as Alabama officials seek to revive a previously blocked congressional map that could shift Rep. Shomari Figures’s (D-AL) district and possibly boost Republican chances in the state’s congressional delegation.
The move follows a recent Supreme Court decision in a Louisiana redistricting case that weakened key Voting Rights Act protections used in challenges against congressional maps in southern states. Republican-led legislatures in Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, and South Carolina have since moved quickly to revisit district lines before November’s elections.
In Alabama, the legal fight centers on the state’s 2023 congressional map, which originally contained only one majority-black district despite black residents making up roughly 27% of the population.
A federal court previously ruled the map likely violated the Voting Rights Act and ordered the creation of a second district where black voters could elect their preferred candidate. That court-drawn map led Democrats to win Alabama congressional seats in 2024, including Figures.
Alabama’s congressional delegation map has five GOP seats and two Democrat seats, but the proposed map could create an additional Republican seat.
Republican state leaders argue the Supreme Court’s recent ruling reopened the problem and justified emergency action before Alabama’s scheduled May 19 congressional primaries. State Attorney General Steve Marshall has filed emergency motions seeking to lift federal restrictions on the earlier GOP-backed map.
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Democrats and civil rights activists blasted the legislation during floor debate, accusing Republicans of attempting to change election rules mid-cycle and weaken black representation in Congress. Protesters gathered at the Alabama Statehouse throughout the special session, chanting “Down with white supremacy.”
The Alabama bill mirrors actions already taken in neighboring Louisiana, where officials delayed congressional primaries to allow lawmakers time to consider new district boundaries after the Supreme Court ruling.