Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court a ruling rejecting Alabama’s new congressional map.
“While we are disappointed in that decision we strongly believe that the Legislature’s map complies with the Voting Rights Act and the recent decision of the U.S. Supreme Court,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement “We intend to promptly seek review from the Supreme Court to ensure that the State can use its lawful congressional districts in 2024 and beyond.”
Secretary of State Wes Allen, who is represented by Marshall, filed a motion Tuesday asking the court for a stay on the ruling rejecting the map. The motion said the state intends to file a request for a stay with the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday.
On Tuesday morning, a three-judge federal court ruled that the map passed by the Legislature in July did not fix a likely Voting Rights Act violation. The court ordered a special master and a cartographer it has appointed to begin working on a new map to be used in the 2024 congressional elections.
The same court had ruled last year that Alabama’s map passed in 2021, with one majority Black congressional district out of seven in a state where the population is 27% Black, most likely violated the Voting Rights Act, as alleged by voters and organizations that sued. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld that ruling in June.
In July, the Legislature met in special session to draw a map to replace the 2021 map. The Republican majority approved a new map which did not add a second majority Black district despite guidance from the court saying “any remedial plan will need to include two districts in which Black voters either comprise a voting-age majority or something quite close to it.”
At a hearing before the three-judge court panel in August, Alabama Solicitor General Edmund LaCour told the court that the new map complied with the Voting Rights Act and said Alabama was not required to create a second opportunity district for Black voters to comply with the law.