(TheRedWire.com) – Despite a directive from the U.S. Supreme Court to modify Alabama’s congressional map to include an additional district with a majority Black population, GOP members in Alabama are declining to adhere to the ruling.
The state, where 27 percent of the population identifies as Black, currently only has one majority-Black district out of seven. The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision in June, judged that the existing map contravened the Voting Rights Act by marginalizing Black voters.
The court also recommended the creation of a second majority-Black district in an area with a Black population of 50.5 percent. Despite this, the map put forward by Republican lawmakers on Monday only augments the Black voter count in the 2nd Congressional District to 42.5 percent, falling short of the court’s requirement. This proposal, approved by the Permanent Legislative Committee, was put forth in a special session for lawmaker review.
Chris Pringle (R), the co-chair of the redistricting committee and also the House Speaker Pro Tempore, claimed that the proposed increase was significant enough to provide Black voters with the chance to elect their candidate of choice.
Previously, Alabama had argued that its existing district map did not infract the Voting Rights Act because it was based on a race-neutral benchmark. Nevertheless, Chief Justice John Roberts dismissed this argument in court, indicating it clashed with established precedents related to the Voting Rights Act.
Merina Jenkins, the executive director of the National Redistricting Foundation, opined that the new map demonstrates Alabama Republicans’ lack of commitment to accomplishing the task outlined in the recent ruling.
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