Supreme Court denies request by Alabama to use new congressional maps
Kaelan Deese
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The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused Alabama‘s request to run its 2024 elections under a new congressional map that a lower court ruled was an illegal attempt to diminish the power of the state’s black voters.
The decision falls in line with a Supreme Court ruling against the state on June 8 that reaffirmed a provision of the Voting Rights Act. There were no noted dissenting votes, and the court did not explain its reasoning.
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Justices in June tossed out an earlier Republican-drawn map as discriminatory and upheld a three-judge federal court panel decision that called for a second majority-black district “or something quite close” to it.
But Alabama contended the Supreme Court’s recent decision left open the possibility for the state to redraw its map without creating a second district. The lower court then struck down the new map following the June decision.
The panel of judges said the new map drawn by the Republican-controlled legislature “deeply troubled” them and that it did not “provide the remedy we said federal law requires.”
Plaintiffs who sued the state said the VRA requires Alabama to form a second district in which black voters are numerous enough to elect a candidate of their choice. Alabama has seven U.S. congressional districts and a 27% black population.
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Alabama wanted the high court to block the lower court ruling while the state appealed the panel’s decision about the new map.
Due to procedures that govern some voting rights matters, cases are heard by a three-judge panel that includes both trial and appeals court judges, and the losing side can directly appeal to the Supreme Court.