All sides are scheduled to meet today before a three-judge federal panel over Alabama’s new Congressional voting map. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the state’s first try at redrawing the district lines likely violated the Voting Rights Act. Critics say the new map insults the nation’s highest court by not creating a second spot where black voters hold a majority. John Wahl is chairman of the Alabama Republican Party. He says GOP lawmakers did the right thing with the new map…
“So, we've heard a lot of opinion on this from people,” said Wahl. “But something we need to keep in mind is that the lower court did not require to majority minority districts. And there's a lot of other things to look at with a map besides just a demographic question of race.”
Civil rights groups urged three federal judges to reject Alabama's newly drawn congressional districts, saying state Republicans prioritized partisan concerns over compliance with a court order to draw lines that are fair to Black voters. The groups representing voters who won the surprise U.S. Supreme Court ruling — that affirmed a decision blocking the state's previous map — filed their objection to the new plan late Friday. They said the new map "perpetuates" the state's violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and fails to follow the three-judge panel's finding that the state should have a second majority-Black district or "something quite close to it." Alabama GOP chair John Wahl disagrees. He claims the new map addresses issues like keeping communities together and the shape of the district…
"And I think those are things that the lower court is going to look at, and things that we saw the state legislature work on as this map moved through their process,” he said.
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. He said in a statement that Alabama's new map is a "brazen defiance" of the courts. "The result is a shameful display that would have made George Wallace—another Alabama governor who defied the courts—proud," Holder said.
