Alabama requested the Supreme Court on Friday to reinstate Republican-friendly congressional district maps after a lower court blocked it over apparent violations of the Voting Rights Act.
“The three-judge court has barred Alabama from using its lawfully enacted congressional redistricting plan on the theory that Alabama violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act,” attorneys for Secretary of State John Merrill wrote in a filing to the highest court.
The petition was filed to Justice Clarence Thomas, the circuit justice for the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
FEDERAL COURT STRIKES DOWN ALABAMA HOUSE MAP OVER VOTING RIGHTS ACT CONCERNS
A three-judge panel on the 11th Circuit ordered a new map that includes “two districts in which Black voters either comprise a voting-age majority or something quite close to it.” The judges ruled Monday the initial map only contained one district that gave black voters the opportunity to elect a candidate of their preference.
“The court-ordered redraw marks a radical change from decades of Alabama’s congressional plans,” petitioners added on Friday. “It will result in a map that can be drawn only by placing race first above race-neutral districting criteria, sorting and splitting voters across the State on the basis of race alone.”
The 11th Circuit also allotted state Republicans just two weeks to pass a new map. Otherwise, the court would appoint a special master for the task.
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Monday’s decision in Alabama marked the second congressional district map blocked by judges in the current redistricting round. Ohio’s Supreme Court issued a similar ruling earlier this month, accusing the state’s map of being a partisan gerrymander that violated the state constitution.
