Alabama has asked the Supreme Court for permission to use its redrawn congressional map after a lower court blocked it.
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❓ WHAT HAPPENED: Alabama has asked the United States Supreme Court to permit the use of its redistricted congressional map after a lower court blocked its implementation. The new map eliminates a Democrat-leaning majority-minority district, in lines with a Supreme Court ruling that racially gerrymandered districts are unconstitutional.
📺 DETAIL: On Wednesday, Alabama officials requested permission from the U.S. Supreme Court to use a new congressional map. The proposed map, which eliminates one of the state’s two Democrat-voting majority-minority districts, was blocked by a lower court on Tuesday. The lower court’s ruling argued that the new map was racially discriminatory. In response to the lower court’s ruling, the state of Alabama cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which struck down aspects of the Voting Rights Act of 1965; specifically, sections mandating the creation of majority-minority districts. The Supreme Court ruled that such provisions amounted to unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. The state of Alabama further claims that the lower court’s decision contradicts the Constitution’s equal protection clause.
💬 KEY QUOTE: “[V]oters will be forced to vote under a court-drawn racially gerrymandered map that does not meet Alabama’s legitimate districting goals,” Alabama Republicans said of the lower court ruling.
🎯 IMPACT: The push to redraw Alabama’s congressional map is part of a nationwide trend of redistricting ahead of the midterm elections in November. Across various states, legislators have redrawn and implemented congressional maps to favor the incumbent party. Democrat-controlled states have passed pro-Democrat maps, while Republican-controlled states have passed measures to boost Republican representation, often by eliminating racially gerrymandered districts. Earlier in May, South Carolina’s General Assembly held a special legislative session to redraw the state’s congressional map, but RINOs in the state senate blocked the map in a surprise vote, showing that redistricting is not always a straightforward process.
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