Court Orders Alabama To Use Redrawn Congressional Map

A federal court has ordered Alabama to use a remedial map that includes two congressional districts where Black residents will likely be able to elect their preferred candidate.

"Alabama's public interest is in the conduct of lawful elections," the decision reads. "Accordingly, an affirmative injunction ordering the State to use a plan we have imposed to remedy the vote dilution we found is in the public interest."

The ruling comes after judges rejected Alabama's redrawn maps in September, writing that they were "deeply troubled" that lawmakers did not create a second congressional district where Black residents could comprise a majority, and ordered the state to draw new congressional lines. The court directed an appointed special master to draw three new map proposals by Sept. 25.

The court found that the original maps, drawn by the state's Republican legislature, violated the Voting Rights Act by diminishing the power of Black voters.