A divided Supreme Court allowed Alabama to proceed with its 2023 congressional map, setting aside a lower court ruling that had blocked the plan ahead of the midterm elections.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Alabama may use its 2023 congressional map in the upcoming midterm elections after the Supreme Court on Tuesday evening granted the state’s request to move forward with the contested boundaries.
The 6-3 decision allows the state to proceed with a map expected to favor Republicans, likely resulting in a 6-1 Republican advantage in Alabama’s congressional delegation.
The order came days after Alabama officials asked the high court to intervene following a ruling from a three-judge panel that found the state’s congressional map violated the 14th Amendment. The lower court’s decision had blocked the map, prompting state officials to seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court.
The Alabama dispute unfolded shortly after a separate redistricting fight in Louisiana, where the Supreme Court last month found the state’s newly drawn congressional map to be an unconstitutional gerrymander. That case, State of Louisiana v. Phillip Callais, and the related Press Robinson v. Phillip Callais case, involved a Louisiana map that created a second majority-minority congressional district after state lawmakers responded to pressure from left-wing judges.
Tuesday’s Supreme Court action means Alabama election officials can continue preparing for the midterms under the 2023 map rather than shifting to a different plan ordered by the lower court.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a dissent joined by Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan, sharply criticizing the majority’s decision and warning that it would force the state into a disruptive election process.
“Before the Court are two paths. Down one lies an orderly election, held under a tried-and-tested congressional map that protects Black Alabamians’ right to vote and with which all voters, elections officials, and candidates alike are familiar,” Sotomayor wrote.
Sotomayor contrasted that with what she described as the consequences of allowing Alabama to use the disputed map.
“Down the other lies a chaotic election, held under a never-before-used congressional map that intentionally discriminates against Black Alabamians, that Alabama adopted in unashamed defiance of a prior court order directly affirmed by this Court, and that will require officials to change the voter registrations of hundreds of thousands of voters in just days at best, a task that Alabama previously represented would take months,” Sotomayor said.
“The majority chooses the second path and disregardsboth democratic values and the rule of law. I respectfully dissent,” she wrote.
The decision places Alabama’s congressional boundaries back into effect at a critical point in the election calendar and adds to a broader national battle over redistricting, voting rights and partisan control of House seats. The ruling gives Alabama Republicans a major procedural victory as the state prepares for the midterms under a map expected to preserve the party’s dominance in the delegation.
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