The federal judges’ ruling says Republicans “intentionally discriminated based on race” by redrawing the state’s House map to remove a Black-majority district.
“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.
Attorney General Steve Marshall, a Republican, described the GOP-drawn map as “blandly unobjectionable” and said Alabama will immediately appeal.
“Know this — in my mind, it is not a matter of whether we win this case, only when,” Marshall said.
Republicans in several Southern states, including Alabama, have sought to reshape voting districts with large minority populations that have elected Democrats following the Supreme Court’s ruling that struck down a Black-majority district in Louisiana and weakened the federal Voting Rights Act.