Federal court strikes down Alabama's version of congressional map

Michael Macagnone, CQ-Roll Call on May 8, 2025

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WASHINGTON — A federal court ruling in Alabama could mean another new congressional map for the state, as a panel of federal judges found the version the state drew in 2023 violated the Voting Rights Act because it diluted the political voice of Black voters.

The more than 500-page ruling from a unanimous three-judge panel said it was “not a close call” to require the state to have a map with more representation for Black voters than the 2023 plan.

The state is currently using a court-mandated map drawn after a preliminary ruling against the state’s 2023 version, and Thursday’s decision opened the door for the state to have yet another map going forward — its third since the 2020 census.

Thursday’s ruling followed a trial earlier this year, when the state sought to reinstate the 2023 map despite the initial court ruling finding it likely violated the VRA. The court found that the 2023 map did not comply with the VRA and the state legislature ignored the court’s initial order to provide an additional Black opportunity district.

“(T)ry as we might, we cannot understand the 2023 Plan as anything other than an intentional effort to dilute Black Alabamians’ voting strength and evade the unambiguous requirements of court orders standing in the way,” the judges wrote.

A portion of the ruling noted that “Remedial proceedings lie ahead,” over what exact maps the state will use until the 2030 census.

The ACLU and Legal Defense Fund, two of the groups who represented the plaintiffs in the case, praised the ruling in a statement. The court-ordered map used in the 2024 elections resulted in Alabama electing two Black representatives to Congress for the first time in history, the groups said.

“Today’s decision is a testament to the persistence and resilience of Black voters in Alabama, including our clients,” Deuel Ross, deputy director of litigation at the Legal Defense Fund, said in a statement.

The lawsuit was brought under a law that allows for a three-judge panel to decide the case and provides a direct appeal to the Supreme Court. Representatives for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey could not be immediately reached for comment Thursday.

The judges also kept the door open for the court to reinstate preclearance review of voting rights changes through 2032 for the state under the VRA. That portion of the law, known as the “bail-in” provision, allows courts to force preclearance review by the Justice Department or a court where there has been a finding of intentional discrimination.

That preclearance review is similar to the preclearance review that existed for several states with a history of discrimination under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act until the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder that invalidated the portion of the law used to justify blanket preclearance.

According to a 2022 Congressional Research Service report, there are “sparse” examples of cases where a court has successfully invoked “bail-in” review.

Thursday’s ruling is the latest in a series of court battles over the state’s congressional map since the 2020 census that has gone to the Supreme Court three times so far.

After the decennial count, the state adopted a congressional map with a single Black-majority congressional district out of six in a state where about 30% of voters are Black. Voters and voting rights groups sued, arguing that the map violated the VRA by diluting the power of Black voters deliberately.

An initial court found in favor of those plaintiffs and ordered a new map, which would likely require drawing a second district where Black voters were a majority. However the state appealed to the Supreme Court, which allowed the state to use its 2021 map for the 2022 elections.

Then, in 2023, the Supreme Court ultimately upheld the preliminary court ruling about the 2021 map and sent the issue back to the lower court.

Following the Supreme Court ruling, the Alabama legislature approved a second map that did not include a second Black opportunity district, the 2023 plan. The three-judge panel found the 2023 plan still did not comply with the VRA and ordered a new one.

The state asked the Supreme Court again to intervene — and this time it didn’t. The three-judge panel approved its own plan for the 2024 election, where Democratic Reps. Shomari Figures and Terri A. Sewell were elected to Black-majority districts.