Supreme Court allows bama to use new voting map

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The U.S. Supreme Court will allow Alabama to make Republican-friendly changes to 2026 elections and potentially flip a seat in Congress.

In an unsigned order June 2, justices said lower courts had meddled in a state election and that Republican officials should be able to move forward with changes to elections as they see fit.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall called the decision a “major victory” and said that for too long, “Alabama has been denied the full measure of its sovereignty by judges who insist on treating our state as though it never moved beyond the 1960s.”

Plaintiffs in the case, meanwhile, said the decision would make it harder for Black voters to elect candidates of their choice to office.

“Alabama’s political leadership has made it absolutely clear that without protections for Black voters in place, they will not stop pursuing a congressional map that results in a delegation without Black representation-even after votes to the contrary are cast and counted,” said JaTaune Bosby Gilchrist, executive director of ACLU of Alabama.

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Republicans want to take back the seat in Congress currently held by Democrat Rep. Shomari Figures in the 2nd Congressional District. Figures is one of two Black members of Alabama’s Congressional delegation. The other is Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham.


“The ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court is a victory for the plain old, everyday Alabama common sense that was used when the Legislature set aside race and used communities of interest and other factors to craft congressional map,” Sen. Garlan Gudger, a Republican, said in a statement Tuesday evening.

Alabama Democrats, meanwhile, called the decision “unconscionable.”

“This ruling is a disgraceful insult to all of the many footsoldiers of the Civil Rights movement who fought, bled, and died for voting rights and fair Black representation,” said Rep. Anthony Daniels, who leads the state’s House Democratic caucus.

He said his party planned to continue to fight for voting rights, and asked Black voters to show up to the polls in record numbers.

“This is plain evidence as to why your vote matters.”

What changes in Alabama?
That means Alabama can push forward with a lightning-speed effort to hold a special primary Aug. 11.

Currently, the state has two majority-Black voting districts, which in 2024 elected two Black Democrats to Congress. Republicans want to use a map that could flip one of those seats.

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