Alabama GOP Passes New Congressional Map With Just 1 Black-Majority District, Not 2

Topline

Alabama lawmakers advanced a new congressional map on Monday—as required by the U.S. Supreme Court, which found the map lawmakers drew after the 2020 Census violated the Voting Rights Act—but the new proposed map only has one majority-Black district, even though the Supreme Court ordered lawmakers to push for two majority-Black districts.

The Alabama Statehouse stands on May 15, 2019 in Montgomery, Alabama. Lawmakers are in a special … [+] session starting Monday to discuss the redrawing of congressional districts to align with the U.S. Supreme Court’s order the state have two congressional districts “in which Black voters either comprise a voting-age majority or something quite close to it.” (Photo by Julie Bennett/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

In a 14-6 party line vote, with all Democrats voting against the proposal, the Alabama Permanent Legislative Committee on Reapportionment recommended a new congressional district map with one district that is 53% Black and 43% white and one that is 44% Black and 52% white, in an apparent attempt to satisfy the Supreme Court’s ruling.

The new map was in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that required Alabama to draw two congressional districts “in which Black voters either comprise a voting-age majority or something quite close to it.”

The map will be presented to other lawmakers Monday afternoon and the legislature will debate the districts later this week.

Other lawmakers are able to introduce new maps throughout the week-long special session that started Monday, but a new map must be passed by Friday and receive approval from a federal court.

Big Number

26.8%. That’s how much of Alabama’s population is Black, according to the Census. White people make up almost 69% of the state, and no other race or ethnicity accounts for more than 5% of the state’s population. Alabama has seven congressional districts.

Key Background

In June, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision that affirmed a lower court’s ruling blocking a map proposed in 2020 because it violated the Voting Rights Act as it weakened the voting power of Black Alabamians. The court ordered lawmakers to create a new map with two majority-Black districts, increasing the odds that the state could add a second Democratic member to its congressional delegation given that Black Alabamians overwhelmingly vote Democratic. The map proposed in 2020 remained in place for 2022 despite the legal challenges due to a court-ordered pause on the blocking of the map to ensure one was in place for that election. That map, however, put almost one-third of Black people in Alabama into one district, according to the New York Times, spreading the rest of the Black population across the six other districts, all of which elected a white Republican representative.

What To Watch For

Alabama legislators have the week to debate and come to an agreement on what the districts should be. If they don’t decide and enact new districts by Friday, the court will take over the map-drawing process with a special master.

Surprising Fact

Republican Alabama state Rep. Chris Pringle told the New York Times the committee overseeing the new map was overwhelmed with public submissions of what they should do, even receiving some from as far away as France and New Zealand.