A federal judge ruled the state needs to add a second district in Montgomery that is majority Black or close to that.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said Friday she will not call a special legislative session to redraw the state Senate district map after a federal judge ruled the Montgomery part of the current mapU.S. District Judge Anna M.
Manasco, a President Trump appointee, ruled in August that the map violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because Black voters in Montgomery have less opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice than other voters. Manasco wrote that the map should be changed to add a second district in Montgomery that is majority Black or close to majority Black.In a press release Friday, Ivey said states face uncertainty over how to follow Voting Rights Act caselaw and the Constitution’s provisions against racial discrimination. “As the law currently stands, states like Alabama are put to the virtually impossible task of protecting some voters based on race without discriminating against any other voters based on race,” the governor said. “I remain hopeful that we will somehow find the ‘magic map’ that will both satisfy the federal court and also be fair to all Alabamians. “But as of today, I cannot justify the time and expense of calling a special session. In the meantime, I call on the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify the law in this area as soon as possible and relieve states like Alabama from this no-win situation.” The governor said she might reconsider her decision if a satisfactory map is later identified and that she would update the public accordingly.filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Alabama, the Legal Defense Fund, and the Southern Poverty Law Center, Manasco blocked the state from conducting a state Senate election using the current map. All 140 seats in the Legislature, including the 35 seats in the state Senate, are on the ballot next year. The primary is May 19.Allen will also ask the court to put its judgment about the Voting Rights violation on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court rules in a Louisiana redistricting case, a decision that could have an impact on cases in Alabama and other states.On the Alabama Senate map, the Montgomery districts are currently District 25, represented by Sen. Will Barfoot, a white Republican, and District 26, represented by Sen. Kirk Hatcher, a Black Democrat. The plaintiffs claimed map violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, in part by unnecessarily packing black voters into District 26. The plaintiffs also claimed that the Huntsville portion of the map violated the Voting Rights Act, but Manasco ruled that it did not. Manasco’s ruling came after an eight-day trial with 20 witnesses and arguments from 48 lawyers, the judge wrote. Adding a second Black district in Montgomery would not change the balance of power in the Senate, where Republicans hold 27 of the 35 seats.In that case, the Legislature drew a second map, but it did not follow the court’s guidance on adding a second district that was majority Black or close to it.That led to the election of Shomari Figures of Mobile as the second Democrat and second Black member of Alabama’s seven-member U.S. House delegation. Earlier this week, the court proposed having the same team that drew the congressional map begin work on a remedial plan for the Montgomery portion of the state Senate map on Oct. 1 or soon after.If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our
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