Judges block Alabama's congressional map switch

A three-judge panel blocked Alabama from using its 2023 congressional district maps and ordered use of court-drawn maps implemented after earlier maps were struck down for intentionally diluting minority voting power. The state planned to appeal. Earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted lower-court injunctions that had prevented use of the 2023 maps after emergency motions tied to the Louisiana v. Callais ruling. The panel said re-examination under Callais led to the same conclusion. Alabama held a special legislative session ending May 8, passing two bills setting special Aug. 11 primary elections for four affected districts. The court required an injunction two-and-a-half months before the primaries and rejected the state’s attempt to complete discriminatory dilution through legislative changes. The primaries will proceed under the current court-ordered map unless the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes again.

"A three-judge panel on Tuesday blocked the state from using its 2023 maps and ordered it to instead use court-drawn maps that were instituted after the previous maps were struck down for intentionally diluting minority voting power. The state is planning to appeal. Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted lower-court injunctions blocking the state from using the 2023 maps, after Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall filed emergency motions to that effect in the wake of the Louisiana v. Callais ruling."

"Those motions requested the cases be remanded back to the lower court in light of the Callais ruling, but the panel of judges said in Tuesday's order that "our re-examination in light of Callaisyields the same conclusion." A special session of the state Legislature wrapped up May 8, resulting in two bills setting the stage for special Aug. 11 primary elections for the four affected congressional districts."

""We now face a critical decision on a very tight timeline," the judges wrote in Tuesday's order. The court said it had to decide whether to allow the state to move forward with a map "that we found (after a full trial) intentionally discriminated against Black voters" or to issue an injunction two-and-a-half months before the special primary elections. It chose the latter. "We reject in the strongest possible terms the State's attempt to finish its intentional decision to dilute minority votes with a veneer of legislative regularity," the judges write."

"The Aug. 11 special primaries will proceed per state law passed during the special session but will do so under the current court-ordered map - unless the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes again. "As a party to this case, in my official capacity as Secretary of State, I strongly disagree with the lower Court's decision," Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen said in a statement emailed to Axios."

Read at Axios