Dem
51
GOP
49
The Alabama legislature drew a Congressional district map that had only one majority Black district (out of seven), even though roughly 2/7 of the population is Black. The Supreme Court ruled that the Alabama map violated the Voting Rights Act. So the Alabama legislature drew a new map—also with only one majority Black district. The legislators argued that they did the best they could, but it's hard to get it right. Apparently they are unfamiliar with Dave's Redistricting website and other products that are available to help. In any event, Democrats sued again and the case will be in court today. The Democrats claim the new map is in open defiance of the Supreme Court and want the district court to appoint a special master to draw a map that complies with the Supreme Court's decision.
There is a bit of a hurry here. If the map is not completed by Oct. 1, it will be too late to use in 2024. The Republicans are fine with that. The Democrats want a map from the special master and a court order telling Alabama to start making preparations to use it, even if there are appeals, which are certain. What happens in Alabama could well happen in other Southern states that also have maps that are illegally racially gerrymandered. So this is an important test case. (V)