Under SCOTUS orders to produce a voting map that no longer illegally dilutes the power of Black voters in Alabama, lawmakers now face a high-stakes scramble to come up with an acceptable replacement. Alabama has until end of week to redraw its voting map:
A voter is seen exiting a polling station at the Selma Fire Station on Super Tuesday in Selma, Alabama , U.S., March 3, 2020. REUTERS/Michael A. McCoyMONTGOMERY, Ala. — Under orders from the Supreme Court to produce a voting map that no longer illegally dilutes the power of Black voters in Alabama, the state’s lawmakers are now facing a high-stakes scramble to come up with an acceptable replacement by the end of this week.
Alabama has a long list of bitter disputes over the enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, a landmark law born out of the civil rights movement whose key provisions were gutted by a 2013 Supreme Court decision. Litigation forced the creation of Alabama’s first majority-Black congressional district in 1992, and the seat has been represented by a Black Democrat ever since then.But the current fight stems from lawsuits filed to oppose the map drawn after the 2020 census.
But a federal panel of three judges unanimously said the map had most likely violated the Voting Rights Act and ordered it redrawn, four months before the 2022 primary elections. The Supreme Court, while agreeing to consider the challenge, allowed the map to go into effect before the November elections.
The Alabama Legislature now has until Friday to create another map that gains approval from a federal court, and has solicited public proposals. Should the Legislature fall short, the map could again be challenged, leaving open the possibility that the court would draw its own map and cut out the Legislature altogether.
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