A three-judge federal panel issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday morning thwarting Alabama’s plan to hold new elections for Congressional districts that Republicans believed could help them gain a seat.
The U.S. Supreme Court had cleared the way for the the state to use a Congressional map lawmakers drew in 2023 despite the same three-judge federal panel finding that the map failed to remedy a Section 2 violation of the Voting Rights Act and intentionally discriminated against Black voters.
The panel on Monday said it could not allow the state to move forward with the 2023 map “tainted by intentional race-based discrimination.”
“After (an) exacting review, we conclude that a preliminary injunction must issue. Ultimately, we cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by intentional race-based discrimination,” the judges wrote in their ruling. “And under the unusual circumstances of this case, we conclude that a limited order requiring the Secretary to continue using this Court’s race-blind map will not disrupt Alabama’s elections (all candidates ran under the race-blind map until fifteen days ago, and all voters remain districted under the race-blind map in electoral computer systems).
“…We reject in the strongest possible terms the State’s attempt to finish its intentional decision to dilute minority votes with a veneer of legislative regularity.”
The work of reassigning voters had been set to begin Wednesday, with a short seven-day window to get the work done. That will no longer be taking place as long as the injunction remains in effect.
