Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall asked the Supreme Court Friday (May 8) to lift injunctions preventing the state from using a Republican-drawn congressional map before the May 19 primaries.
The filings came just hours after Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation into law to create special primaries for certain congressional districts should the court rule in the state’s favor.
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Alabama argues that the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callias, which curbed the use of race in drawing lines, directly conflicts with the injunctions barring Alabama from using its 2023 map.
“Alabama’s case mirrors Louisiana’s, and they should end the same way: with this year’s elections run with districts based on lawful policy goals, not race,” the emergency motions read.
The Supreme Court found in the Louisiana case that a second majority-Black district was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
Request for ruling by May 15
Marshall asked the Supreme Court to rule by this Friday (May 15), five days before the state’s scheduled primaries. Associate Justice Clarence Thomas asked the plaintiffs who brought the redistricting cases to respond by Monday at 5 pm. Absentee voting is already underway in Alabama.
“Alabama drew a map based on lawful policy goals, not race, and the Supreme Court’s recent ruling vindicates that approach,” Marshall said in a statement.
Reverting to the 2023 map would impact the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th Congressional districts. The legislation the Alabama Legislature passed last week would set special elections for those four districts if the court takes action.
The Alabama attorney general’s office argues that the lower court “got it wrong” when it ruled the 2023 Legislature-drawn map violated the Voting Rights Act. Marshall said the recent Supreme Court ruling validates Alabama’s argument.
Alabama’s current congressional map, drawn by a special master, led to the election of Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, in 2024. He now represents the new 2nd Congressional District, which has a 48.7% Black voting-age population.
“Alabamians should be able to vote under a lawfully enacted map that prioritizes the State’s conceded policies rather than a map that elevates race above them,” the state wrote in the emergency filings.
Also on Friday, a three-judge federal panel denied Alabama’s request to stay the injunction barring it from using the 2023 congressional map, which the judges found to be racially discriminatory.
In their response, the judges ruled that the court does not have the authority to act while the case is under review by the nation’s highest court. Additionally, the panel wrote that enacting the stay would upend Alabama’s status quo in the middle of an election.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Alex Angle and originally published by Alabama Daily News.
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