Washington — A federal district court has temporarily halted Alabama’s use of a congressional map crafted by state legislators in 2023, citing racial discrimination concerns due to its inclusion of only one majority-Black district.
Instead, the panel of three judges has mandated Alabama revert to a court-appointed map featuring two majority-Black districts, which was utilized during the 2024 elections.
The judges concluded that the redistricting strategy from Alabama’s Republican-led legislature in 2023 was deliberately racially biased, contravening the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
“We find it unacceptable for Alabamians to vote in the 2026 elections under a plan marked by intentional race-based discrimination,” the judges remarked.
This ruling marks the latest development in the protracted legal battle surrounding Alabama’s congressional boundaries. The matter returned to the district court following a pivotal Supreme Court decision last month that diminished a significant part of the Voting Rights Act.
Following that Supreme Court verdict, which overturned previous lower court decisions blocking the 2023 map, Alabama officials moved swiftly to implement the legislative district lines drawn that year.
