U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., on Friday denounced newly enacted laws allowing special primary elections for the consideration of new U.S. and state district maps.
Senate Bill 1, sponsored by Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, authorizes a special primary election for Alabama Senate Districts 24 and 26, should a federal injunction blocking the enactment of new maps in the state be lifted.
House Bill 1, sponsored by Rep. Chris Pringle, R-Mobile, is legislation to allow new primaries for certain congressional districts, should the U.S. Supreme Court lift an injunction against the state redrawing congressional districts until 2030.
Both bills were signed into law by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday.
The legislation was filed during a special session in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. The ruling augmented the requirements for lawsuits challenging district maps under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, requiring plaintiffs to prove discriminatory intent to successfully challenge a state’s maps.
The Supreme Court has yet to respond to requests filed by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and Secretary of State Wes Allen to reconsider or revoke its ruling in Allen v. Milligan, which barred Alabama from enacting a new congressional map until 2030 after the state’s proposed 2023 map was struck down for racial discrimination.
Meanwhile, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday left reconsideration of its ruling—which barred the state from adopting a new state Senate map—in the hands of the Supreme Court.
Sewell, in a statement released following the bills’ final passage, decried the legislation as an attempt to disenfranchise Black voters on the heels of the Callais verdict.
“This is a dark day for the State of Alabama. The Foot Soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement fought, bled, and died to overturn Jim Crow in the South and secure Black representation in government,” the representative stated. “Today, Republicans in the Alabama State House passed legislation to erase their legacy and suppress the voices of Black Alabamians.”
The legislator highlighted that federal injunctions currently prevent the state from redistricting until 2030.
“The Supreme Court has yet to rule on lifting the injunction. However, Alabama Republicans’ rush to suppress Black representation while the injunction remains demonstrates the dire need for federal protections for minority voters,” Sewell said.
The federal lawmaker called on activists to use their voices and votes in opposition to redistricting.
“We will not stand by quietly while Alabama Republicans try to erase the progress secured by the Civil Rights Movement and take our state back to the era of Jim Crow. The people of Alabama must stand up, speak out, and get out to the polls,” she added.
“If the courts and our state legislature won’t protect the rights of Black and minority voters, then we must organize, mobilize, and vote like our lives depend on it. We must reaffirm, through action, that every American deserves a voice in our democracy.”
In a social media video posted Friday, Sewell commended state Democrats’ speeches and votes against the legislation while admitting, “the deck was always stacked against us with a Republican in Alabama’s state Legislature.”
“The bills passed on a pure party line vote, but not without a fight,” she said.
“What the Supreme Court did was validate partisan gerrymandering by political parties, even if the result is to take away or dilute the voting power of Black and minority voters,” Sewell added. “Black voters make up nearly one-third of Alabama’s electorate. Yet Republicans are doing all they can to dilute the power of Alabama Black voters, to silence our voices and to eliminate our ability to elect congressional and state leaders of our own choice.”
