Supreme Court lets Alabama use GOP-favored map, blocking ruling that found intentional racial bias

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Alabama to use a congressional map favoring Republicans in this year’s elections, blocking a lower court ruling that found the redistricting plan intentionally discriminates against Black people.

The justices granted the state’s emergency appeal to use a map adopted three years ago that creates a majority-Black population in just one of Alabama’s seven congressional districts. The order came a day before a deadline that Republican Gov. Kay Ivey had already extended in the state’s push to use the map in special primary elections in August.

The lower court had ordered Alabama to use a court-drawn map used in the 2024 elections that sent two Black Democrats to Congress, with Black residents comprising a majority or near-majority in two of the seven districts. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall told the Supreme Court that the state did not intentionally discriminate against Black residents and should be allowed to hold elections under a map chosen by lawmakers, not judges.

The appeal follows last month’s Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Black-majority district in Louisiana and weakened the federal Voting Rights Act, which prompted Republicans in several Southern states to take steps to reshape voting districts with large minority populations that have elected Democrats.