Then, the Supreme Court intervened.
By June 2023, the Supreme Court ultimately ruled against Alabama. It upheld the requirements of the Voting Rights Act under these circumstances and allowed the lower court case to move forward.
But by then, the votes had been cast in the 2022 elections, and the winners were seated in the U.S. House of Representatives. In November 2022, more than 1 million Americans in Alabama — as well as Louisiana and Georgia — voted in congressional districts that violated the law. Those congressional districts were used to choose political representation for Alabama citizens for the next two years.
The Supreme Court’s decision to allow presumptively illegal redistricting maps during the election not only had major effects for representation, but it also ran counter to six decades of federal court precedent.
Historically, the federal courts prioritized voting rights and legal congressional districts for upcoming elections above all other concerns, allowing lower federal courts to order or — in extreme circumstances — to draw new districts that complied with the law.
In this case, the Supreme Court instead prioritized deference to state election powers and judicial restraint over the rights and representation of voters in Alabama and the federal judiciary’s role in guaranteeing them.
New districts for 2024
Congressional redistricting and reapportionment typically take place once a decade. Following the U.S. census, each state is required to redraw its congressional districts to account for population changes. This is usually completed by state legislatures or redistricting commissions. After the 2020 census, Alabama’s state legislature drew its districts.
By late 2023, Alabama finally got brand-new congressional districts for the upcoming 2024 election. These new borders were imposed by the federal district court and feature a new Second District where Black voting-age residents represent a near majority. Now, Black residents in…
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