Alabama officials asked the U.S. Supreme Court to let the state use its new map for congressional district boundaries, after a lower court said the map violated the Voting Rights Act.
The emergency appeal was directed to Justice Clarence Thomas, who handles appeals from that region. The Supreme Court later asked for a response from the groups that filed the lawsuits that prompted the appeals court ruling.
The state map, redrawn by the Republican-controlled legislature to take account of 2020 census figures, maintains a single district where Black voters are the majority — the Seventh Congressional District, which includes Birmingham and several counties along the state's western border. In response to a lawsuit, a three-judge panel in a federal appeals court said the map should add a second district"in which Black voters comprise a voting-age majority or something quite close to it.
The panel, which included two judges appointed by former President Donald Trump and one by former President Bill Clinton, said Black voters had less opportunity to elect their candidates of their choice to Congress. The emergency application to the Supreme Court filed by Alabama's secretary of state and other officials argued that drawing two minority districts would force the state to violate federal law."It will result in a map that be drawn only by placing race first above race-neutral districting criterial, sorting and splitting voters across the state on the basis of race alone," they wrote in the court filing.
The state officials urged the court to act quickly, with absentee voting set to begin in just over two months and in-person voting to follow on May 24."Any eleventh hour change to a state's existing districts would require reassignment of hundreds of thousands of voters," they said.Pete Williams is an NBC News correspondent who covers the Justice Department and the Supreme Court, based in Washington.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Alabama asks Supreme Court to intervene in congressional redistricting disputeAlabama has asked the Supreme Court to freeze a lower court decision ordering the state to redraw its congressional map, marking the first 2022 election dispute to reach the high court.
Read more »
Mappapalooza: The fight over Pennsylvania’s congressional district lines has headed to courtHere's a look at the maps that Commonwealth Court Judge Patricia McCullough can choose from.
Read more »
Ohio Redistricting Commission’s Republicans ask Supreme Court to punt decisions on gerrymandered maps past 2022 electionsRepublicans on the Ohio Redistricting Commission asked the state supreme court to issue a ruling on their newly drawn legislative districts by the middle of February – or potentially stay any decision until after the 2022 general election.
Read more »
Supreme Court clears the way for Alabama executionThe state said it was preparing to execute Matthew Reeves by lethal injection on Thursday night. Reeves claimed the state failed to help him understand a form that would have let him choose a new e…
Read more »
Alabama executes inmate Matthew Reeves after Supreme Court clears wayMatthew Reeves claimed the state failed to help him understand a form that would have let him choose a new execution method involving nitrogen.
Read more »
Federal judge blocks big Gulf of Mexico oil lease sale over climate change concernsThe judge said the Biden administration didn't adequately take into account the effect the drilling would have on planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, violating a bedrock environmental law.
Read more »