A federal court on Wednesday clarified that the court’s Monday injunction that halted Alabama’s new congressional maps extended the qualifying deadline only for congressional candidates.
When the three-judge panel issued their ruling on January 24th extending the qualifying period, it was unclear whether the ruling pertained to only congressional candidates or to all candidates. The court’s clarification Wednesday settles that matter.
Except for those congressional candidates, all state and county candidates must qualify by the close of business on Friday, Jan. 28, the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office said in a statement Wednesday.
A three-judge panel on Monday issued a preliminary injunction blocking Alabama’s plan to redraw congressional districts. Those judges ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, who argued the state’s new maps, which has just one majority-minority congressional district, violates the Voting Rights Act.
Those judges extended the deadline for congressional candidates to qualify to Feb. 11, which would give the legislature, currently in session, time to redraw those congressional maps without disrupting election timing.
Alabama’s attorney general on Tuesday began appealing the federal injunction, however, which threatens to throw the election timetable off.
