An Alabama U.S. House seat APR spotlighted in a eight-month investigation apparently got support from a three-judge federal panel. Their ruling states the Alabama legislature pushed an alternative voting map that intentionally discriminated against black voters. The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the state to redraw its voting districts to better represent African Americans. Click below to listen to our series “…a U.S. House Seat if you can keep it.”
The nearly six hundred page report accused the Legislature of ignoring the judges’ orders in 2023 to replace a discriminatory map with a new one that had two districts where Black voters had a chance to elect preferred leaders. The judges also said it would consider a request from the plaintiffs to place Alabama back into preclearance for future congressional redistricting efforts. That means the state would have to seek the court’s permission to make future changes to its voting maps. Alabama has reportedly not been under that kind of restraint since the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Shelby County v. Holder.
The judges wrote that the 2023 map was designed to keep black voters from opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. That, the ruling states, would intentionally perpetuate discriminatory effects. The ruling drew an immediate response from former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who leads the group the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.
“This is a good day for democracy,” said Holder in a press release. “The generations of Black Alabamians who fought to achieve equal representation had their sacrifice and commitment recognized today. Because of their tenacity and hard work, Black Alabamians will continue to vote on a fair congressional map that gives them their legally mandated voting power and allows them to elect a candidate of their choice in two districts.”
Holder went onto say…
“The relentless efforts of some in Alabama to deny black state citizens the rights they deserve and force them to vote on a racially discriminatory map are truly shameful—but their failure is also instructive,” he said. “The court has made clear that the anti-democracy forces attempting to reverse new, more fair Voting Rights Act-compliant maps in other states will not succeed in taking this nation backwards,” he said.
