Critics are tearing apart Alabama legislators’ decision to propose an imbalanced congressional map after they were ordered by the Supreme Court to redraw district lines that would make room for two majority-Black districts instead of only one.
Last month, in a surprise ruling, the conservative-majority Supreme Court ruled that the state’s GOP-led legislature must amend its map to uphold the Voting Rights Act. Justices decreed that the map disenfranchises Black voters by containing only one majority-Black district when about 28 percent of the state’s population is Black. This justifies the implementation of two districts instead of just one, which is the 7th District.
The court ordered state lawmakers to “either an additional majority-Black congressional district or an additional district in which Black voters otherwise have an opportunity to elect a representative of their choice.”
However, their newly-proposed map does include more Black voters in the 7th District’s neighboring district, increasing the percentage of Black voters from 30 percent to 42.5 percent. But that neighboring district is still not majority-Black.
Critics speculate that lawmakers are betting that these new proportions will satisfy the Supreme Court’s directive.
House Speaker Pro Tempore Chris Pringle, who serves as co-chairman of the state redistricting committee, said the proposal for these new district lines gives Black voters a chance to shape the outcome of congressional elections.
“The goal here, for me, was to provide an opportunity for African-Americans to be elected to Congress in the second congressional district,” Pringle said. “The court said we had to provide an opportunity and that’s what that district does.”
In response, the National Redistricting Foundation called the proposal “shameful” and said it would be challenged.
“It is clear that Alabama Republicans are not serious about doing their job and passing a…
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