A three-judge federal panel ruled Alabama must use a court-approved congressional map in the 2026 elections after finding the state’s 2023 plan was intentionally discriminatory.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom,
A federal three-judge panel has ordered Alabama to continue using a court-drawn congressional map for the 2026 midterm elections, rejecting the state’s attempt to revive a 2023 congressional plan that had previously been blocked in litigation.
In a Tuesday ruling, the panel said Alabama must keep the “Special Master” map in place, concluding that the state’s 2023 map was adopted with an unlawful discriminatory purpose. The judges found that the plan sought to spread black voters across districts in a way that weakened their electoral influence.
The court wrote that the “purpose” of the state’s 2023 plan “was to distribute” black voters “across districts to dilute their votes, at least in part because they are Black.”
Alabama had moved to restore the 2023 map after a Supreme Court Voting Rights Act decision in April 2026, Politico reported. That map included one Democratic-leaning district and had earlier been struck down by the lower court.
“Ultimately, we cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by intentional race-based discrimination,” the panel wrote. “And under the unusual circumstances of this case, we conclude that a limited order requiring the Secretary to continue using this Court’s race-blind map will not disrupt Alabama’s elections (all candidates ran under the race-blind map until fifteen days ago, and all voters remain districted under the race-blind map in electoral computer systems).”
The court also rejected Alabama’s argument that partisan motives, rather than racial considerations, explained the Legislature’s 2023 map.
“Counsel argues mightily that the Legislature’s partisan motives drove the creation of the 2023 Plan, but this enormous record contains no evidence of a partisan motive,” the ruling says. “And the only evidence on the issue cuts against one: Alabama’s legislative leadership testified that overtures from national party leaders did not affect their work.”
The decision does not necessarily end the dispute. Alabama could still appeal the panel’s order to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Associated Press reported.
The panel was made up of Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, and District Judges Anna Manasco and Terry Moorer, both appointed by President Donald Trump, The Hill reported.
The order follows a May 11 Supreme Court action that allowed Alabama to move forward with a congressional map previously blocked by a lower court for allegedly violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which bars racial discrimination in voting, according to SCOTUSblog.