Alabama lawmakers, voting rights advocates react to SCOTUS ruling tossing Alabama's congressional map
Alabama's congressional districts will be redrawn following a Supreme Court ruling handed down Thursday reaffirming the landmark Voting Rights Act and reversing what voting rights advocates believed was discrimination against Black voters.
"This is a community-driven and led initiative and we received our answer from the Supreme Court today and we are hopeful and excited that Alabamians will be voting on constitutional maps in our next election," executive director of the ACLU of Alabama JaTaune Bosby Gilchrist said.
On Thursday, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court struck down the congressional district map drawn by the Republican-led legislature after the 2020 census 鈥� something Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall fought against.
"The concern was this is setting a new law, a new precedent on how to draw these maps that was different than what had been ruled from before," former Alabama Republican state representative Paul DeMarco said. "So that's the contention of the legislature and the attorney general defending these maps."
But the challengers of the maps, which included individual voters and the Alabama NAACP, argued the map discriminated against Black voters. Now as lawmakers head to redraw them, there is renewed emphasis on what voting rights advocates would like to see.
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"There should be another district that ensures that Black votes voices are heard are that we are no longer diluting the Black vote in the state," Gilchrist said.
Rep. Terri Sewell weighed in as well.
"If I had a penchant, it would probably be that the judges draw it," Sewell said. "But I also know that the state has a say, and its representation ... and that's reflected in the state legislature. I just look forward to rolling up my sleeves and working with the congressional delegation and the state legislature, to the extent that they're drawing the maps to make sure that they're fair maps."
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DeMarco explained the new map could change the political landscape of Alabama entirely.
"We ultimately don't know what this will mean for Alabama when it comes to the number of Republicans or Democrats that end up filing these seats in Alabama," DeMarco said.
Gov. Kay Ivey will now have to call a special session but DeMarco said he expects the congressional maps to be redrawn by the end of the year.