Leaders in Alabama are trying to take the state’s congressional redistricting fight to the Supreme Court hours after a federal court struck down the latest map on Tuesday for allegedly violating the Voting Rights Act.
Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen filed the appeal to the Supreme Court and filed a stay on Tuesday’s ruling until the Supreme Court hears the appeal.
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“Notice is hereby given that Defendant Secretary of State Wes Allen hereby appeals to the Supreme Court of the United States from this Court’s September 5, 2023 Injunction, Opinion, and Order,” court documents said.
The state also filed an appeal to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to cover its bases. The Supreme Court is expected to strike down the map after a similar map was struck down earlier in June.
The newly redrawn map, which was passed in July, only includes one majority-black district, but it also includes a district where 40% of the voting population is black. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama ruled this map was not sufficient on Tuesday.
“We do not take lightly federal intrusion into a process ordinarily reserved for the State Legislature,” the federal court’s order said. “But we have now said twice that this Voting Rights Act case is not close. And we are deeply troubled that the State enacted a map that the State readily admits does not provide the remedy we said federal law requires.”
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The appeals court also ordered a special master to submit three redrawn maps by Sept. 25 and scheduled a hearing for those who oppose the map for Oct. 3.
Officials in Alabama have said they would like to have a congressional map solidified for the 2024 elections by Oct. 1, 2023. They said that deadline is to allow enough time to “reassign voters, print and distribute ballots, and otherwise conduct the forthcoming 2024 primary elections based on the new map.”
