A panel of federal judges on Monday began a review Alabama’s redrawn congressional map, which opponents argue blatantly defies the court’s mandate to create a second district where Black voters have an opportunity to influence the outcome of an election.
Alabama state Sen. Rodger Smitherman discusses a redistricting proposal during debate at the Statehouse in Montgomery, Ala., on Wednesday, July 19, 2023. Alabama lawmakers face a Friday, July 21, deadline to draw new congressional lines after the U.S. Supreme Court in June upheld a finding that the current state map with one majority-Black district out of seven in a state that is 27% Black likely violates the federal Voting Rights Act.
Lawyers for plaintiffs in the case argued Monday that the new plan, which maintains one majority-Black district, still discriminates against Black voters. They said it flouts the panel’s 2022 finding that Alabama should have two districts where Black voters comprise a majority or “something quite close to it.”
Edmund LaCour, Alabama’s solicitor general, said the redrawn map was as “close as you get” to creating a second majority-Black district without violating the U.S. Constitution or traditional redistricting criteria.LaCour accused the plaintiffs of seeking a “racial gerrymander” over traditional guidelines, such as keeping districts compact and keeping communities of interest together.
Khanna said Alabama essentially changed nothing for Black voters by passing a map that maintained a single majority-Black district and where the political wishes of white voters would continue to dominate election outcomes. The high-stakes hearing drew a large number of spectators to the federal courthouse in Birmingham where an overflow room was opened to accommodate the crowd. Plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case attended with many wearing T-shirts printed with their proposed map which would have two majority-Black districts.
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