A panel of three federal judges on Tuesday blocked Alabama from using a Republican-drawn congressional map for the 2026 elections, ruling that the map intentionally discriminated against Black voters in violation of the Constitution. The decision prevents the state from implementing a 2023 plan that would have eliminated one of Alabama's two majority-Black U.S. House districts.
The court ordered Alabama to use a congressional map featuring two majority-Black districts for the upcoming midterm elections. This follows a period where the state was previously ordered to adopt two majority-Black districts, both of which elected Democrats. In response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision in April that weakened the Voting Rights Act, Governor Kay Ivey had postponed primary elections for four redrawn districts to August in an attempt to use the 2023 map.
This ruling is part of a broader trend of congressional redistricting across the South. Tennessee and Louisiana have each dismantled a majority-Black U.S. House seat, and South Carolina's Senate is poised to approve a plan that would take apart the district of U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn. Alabama officials are expected to appeal the panel's decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.