Alabama Asks Supreme Court to Restore Congressional Map Before Midterms

Alabama’s Republican leaders asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to let the state use a congressional map that a lower court rejected for racial discrimination, saying they need a ruling by Monday so the plan can be used in this year’s midterm elections, according to Al Jazeera. The filing came a day after a three-judge federal panel again blocked the 2023 map, Al Jazeera and Newsweek reported.

The state argues that the 2023 ruling no longer holds because of the Supreme Court’s April decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which weakened how the Voting Rights Act can be applied to redistricting, and says urgent action is needed to prevent “irreparable harm” to its redistricting effort, Al Jazeera reported. The Supreme Court had on May 11 vacated the panel’s 2025 decision and sent the case back for reconsideration in light of Callais, Newsweek reported. On Tuesday the panel nonetheless issued a preliminary injunction ordering the state to use the court-drawn districts from 2024, finding that the 2023 plan was “intentionally discriminated based on race,” according to Newsweek.

Statewide primaries were held May 19, Al Jazeera reported. Gov. Kay Ivey has indicated that new primaries would be held on Aug. 11 in four of the state’s seven congressional districts, the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th, with winners advancing to the November election, the outlet said. Al Jazeera also reported that Alabama had postponed primaries for four congressional seats while it sought to redraw its map.

The 2023 map kept only one majority-Black district, and a three-judge panel had earlier found that Alabama’s Republican leadership intentionally diminished the political strength of Black voters, ordering two Black-majority districts, one including Birmingham and one including Montgomery, Al Jazeera reported. The Supreme Court declined to reverse that decision in 2023, a 5-4 ruling in Allen v. Milligan, according to Newsweek.

Alabama’s attorney general and secretary of state disagree with the panel. Attorney General Steve Marshall said he found nothing in the Supreme Court’s May 11 vacatur order that would provide a basis for the panel’s outcome, and Secretary of State Wes Allen said he looks forward to appealing to the high court as soon as possible, Newsweek reported.

The plaintiffs, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, said the court “saw through Alabama’s blatant attempt to reinstate a race-based congressional map,” Al Jazeera reported. Davin Rosborough of the ACLU Voting Rights Project said, “Black voters deserve a voice and a seat at the table,” Newsweek reported.

The request comes amid a broader push, urged by President Trump, for Republican-led states to redraw congressional lines, Al Jazeera reported. South Carolina’s Senate rejected such a plan 20-24 on Tuesday, Newsweek reported.