Black Alabamians Gain Ground: Judges Reject State’s Voting Map for Underrepresenting Black Communities

The eyebrow-raising aspect here: Alabama's own legislators admit that the newly proposed map did not meet legal guidelines and yet they went ahead with it.

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FILE - A map of a GOP proposal to redraw Alabama's congressional districts is displayed at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Ala., Tuesday, July 18, 2023. Democrats got a potential boost for the 2024 congressional elections as courts in Alabama and Florida ruled in the summer of 2023 that Republican-led legislatures had unfairly diluted the voting power of Black residents. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler, File)
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In an unprecedented move, a federal panel has struck down Alabama’s revised congressional voting boundaries for failing to properly represent its Black community.

This now marks the second time that Alabama’s redistricting efforts have been legally challenged and tossed out, despite a prior Supreme Court mandate. The eyebrow-raising aspect here: Alabama’s own legislators admit that the newly proposed map did not meet legal guidelines and yet they went ahead with it.

Now, a court-appointed specialist will design a new map featuring at least two districts where Black voters have a realistic chance to elect candidates who represent their interests, just in time for the 2024 election.

In a state where nearly 27 percent of the population identifies as Black, this map-drawing process has significant implications, not only in Alabama but in neighboring states like Georgia, which are embroiled in similar controversies.


Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.

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