In a 5-4 decision back in June 2023, the United States Supreme Court agreed with a lower court ruling issued by the United States District Court, Northern District of Alabama, affirming that Alabama congressional maps likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
The Black voting age population was sufficiently numerous and geographically compact to constitute a majority in a second reasonably sized voting district; Black Alabamians vote in a politically cohesive way; and white voters vote sufficiently as a bloc to defeat Black voters' preferred candidates.
Based on controlling precedent, we held that "The appropriate remedy is a congressional redistricting plan that includes either an additional majority-Black congressional district, or an additional district in which Black voters otherwise have an opportunity to elect a representative of their choice." Milligan Doc.
The number of Black voters in Alabama is 26.7 percent of roughly a 3.7 million voting population.
Alabama county maps show that a major concentration of registered Black voters is in what is known as the "Black Belt" around the Montgomery state capital.
"Today's decision is yet another victory for Black voters in Alabama and for the promise of fair representation. By appointing a special master to fairly redraw Alabama's congressional map, the court has rejected the state legislature's latest attempt to dilute the voices and voting power of African Americans all across our state."While we were outraged by the Alabama State Legislature's open defiance of the Supreme Court's original order to create two majority-minority districts, I am nonetheless grateful that a federal court has now intervened to protect the voices of Alabama's Black voters.
"The Supreme Court's decision recognizes that the right of all Americans to equal representation still stands, but the fight does not end here," said Bradley Heard, voting rights deputy legal director for the SPLC. "We will continue to challenge any barriers to voting wherever we see them, and we will advocate for the full restoration of all protections under the Voting Rights Act."
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