Supreme Court green lights Alabama to redraw congressional map before 2026 midterms

WASHINGTON, DC: The Supreme Court, on Monday, May 11, gave a green signal to Alabama to pursue a new congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterm elections that critics say could weaken Black voting power in the state.

In a landmark 6-3 decision, the high court overturned lower court decisions that had blocked Alabama from using a Republican-backed congressional map featuring just one majority-Black district.

The SCOTUS sent the cases back to the lower court for further proceedings in light of its landmark ruling in April that struck down a majority-Black US House district in Louisiana as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.

Supreme Court allows Alabama to use map with a single majority-Black district

Alabama’s current congressional map, used during the 2024 elections, was approved by a three-judge district court panel and features two majority-Black districts.

The state's current congressional delegation consists of five Republicans and two Democrats.

However, SCOTUS’ Monday decision allows the state to instead use a map approved in 2023 by the Republican-led legislature that includes only one district where Black residents comprise a majority.

The map was adopted by Alabama lawmakers after the Supreme Court, in an unexpected decision earlier that year, ruled that a redistricting plan enacted in 2021 likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the landmark 1965 law passed during the civil rights movement to stop racial discrimination in elections.

For decades, the law has been used to challenge district maps that diluted the voting strength of minority communities, particularly Black voters in Southern states.

In anticipation of the ruling falling in their favour, Alabama’s GOP Gov Kay Ivey signed into law a measure that authorizes a special election for congressional districts whose current boundaries would change if the state were given the green light to revert to its 2023 map.

The state is all set to witness the primary on May 19.

Debate sparks over SCOTUS’ new ruling

Alabama Republicans are celebrating the Supreme Court’s new ruling, with Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall claiming, “Today, the Supreme Court vindicated the state’s long-held position. Now, the power to draw Alabama’s maps goes back to the people’s elected representatives. That’s our Legislature.”

He said his job was “to put the legislature in the best possible legal position to draw a congressional map that favors Republicans seven-to-zero.” Marshall concluded with the statement, “Stay tuned.”

Republican House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter called the decision “a massive victory not just for Alabama, but for conservatives across the country.”

However, Democratic Rep Shomari Figures, who represents one of Alabama's two predominantly Black districts, called the decision "incredibly unfortunate.”

In a social media post, he said it "sets the stage for Alabama to go back to the 1950s and 60s in terms of Black political representation in the state."

Figures then went on to claim that he hopes the high court's ruling will only be a "temporary setback," and the lower court panel will keep the existing map in place.