Federal courts ruled that Alabama Republicans drew the state’s seven new congressional districts to illegally discriminate against Black voters last year and must redraw the plan. Similar lawsuits are currently pending in Texas and North Carolina.
Nearly one quarter of Alabama is Black, however only one congressional district in the state reflects that with a majority of Black voters. According to the Guardian, “Plaintiffs who sued in September argued it was possible to draw a second district where Black voters made up a sizable enough portion to elect the candidate of their choice.
A three-judge panel agreed on Monday, saying the state plan probably violated section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. That provision of the law outlaws voting practices that discriminate on the basis of race.”
“Black voters have less opportunity than other Alabamians to elect candidates of their choice to Congress,” Stanley Marcus, a judge on the US court of appeals for the 11th circuit, wrote for an unanimous panel.
“The appropriate remedy is a congressional redistricting plan that includes either an additional majority Black congressional district, or an additional district in which Black voters otherwise have an opportunity to elect a representative of their choice.”
The supreme court upholds that it cannot do anything about partisan gerrymandering, it is still illegal under the Voting Rights Act.
