The US supreme court has rejected a last-ditch request from Alabama to continue to use a congressional map that diluted the influence of Black voters in the state, a significant decision signaling the justices are not backing away from a surprise ruling in June that upheld the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The court’s brief, unsigned order on Tuesday offered no explanation, which is typical in cases that come to the justices on an emergency basis. It had no noted dissents.
Black voters comprise about a quarter of Alabama’s population but only had a majority in one of the state’s seven congressional districts.
A three-judge panel struck down the map last year, deciding the state could have easily drawn a reasonably configured district that gave Black voters a majority in a second district. The supreme court agreed with that determination in June, with chief justice John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh joining the three liberal justices to form a majority.
In response, the Republican-controlled Alabama legislature drew a map that again only gave Black voters a majority in one district. A three-judge panel again struck the map down, saying it was “disturbed” by the way lawmakers had defied its orders. It ordered a court-appointed special master to draw the map.
Alabama made an emergency request to the court, asking it to step in and block the redrawing of the map. The court’s ruling on Tuesday rebuffed that.
“It has been a long and frustrating battle holding the Alabama legislature accountable, but today it is a rewarding one,” lawyers from a coalition of civil rights groups, which represented the plaintiffs in the case, said in a joint statement. “Even after the highest court in the land sided with Black voters in June, our elected officials still chose power over people by outright defying multiple court orders and the loud cries of their constituents to do the right thing.
“Despite these shameful efforts, the supreme court has once again agreed that Black Alabamians deserve a second opportunity district.”
The new map in place will create a second majority-Black district that will give political power to voters in the Black belt, a rural swath stretching across the middle of the state that has been marked by extreme poverty.
“This additional representation in Congress will undoubtedly change lives, especially for the hundreds of thousands of Alabamians residing in the Black Belt who suffer from lack of healthcare access, job opportunities, and crumbling infrastructure,” the civil rights lawyers said. “We look forward to a new era in our state’s history, in which power is shared and Black voices are heard.”
Voting in Alabama is also extremely racially polarized, with Black voters tending to prefer Democrats in general elections and white voters preferring Republicans. A second majority-Black district, therefore, is likely to add another Democratic seat in the US House.
