Judges Deliver Stunning Defeat to Alabama’s Republican Redistricting Plan
Just two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court appeared to clear a path for Alabama Republicans to redraw the state’s voting map in their favor, a federal court slammed on the brakes.
In a decision that reignited the national fight over voting rights and political power, a three-judge federal panel on Tuesday (May 26) blocked Alabama from using the GOP-led congressional map that would have handed the GOP an extra House seat before the November midterm elections, The Guardian reported.
The ruling marks the latest twist in a recent gerrymandering battle across the country— one that has a direct impact on how Black voters are represented in southern states like Alabama, we previously told you.
The court’s decision focused on a map approved by Alabama lawmakers after the Supreme Court voted to gut key protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 last month. The high court’s ruling focused on neighboring Louisiana but quickly opened the floodgates for lawmakers across the South to redraw their own respective maps.
Particularly, Republicans in Alabama moved quickly to redraw district lines, seeking to eliminate one of the state’s two districts where Black voters had the opportunity to elect their preferred candidates, we also told you.
But now, the panel found Alabama’s effort crossed a constitutional line.
The three-judge panel ruled that the proposed map was intentionally discriminatory and could not be used in the 2026 election cycle, writing that elections should not proceed under a plan “tainted by intentional race-based discrimination,” according to the ruling. The judges said Alabama lawmakers had deliberately diluted Black voting strength— echoing the concerns of voting rights advocates— despite previous court orders requiring fair representation.
Other concerns that gerrymandering efforts have been strictly motivated by unjust political incentives also gave the panel pause. And after a federal court barred Virginia from using a Democrat-led redistricting map earlier this month– POLITICO reported— the recent blow to Alabama’s map seems to have evened the bipartisan playing field..for now.
In truth, the Alabama dispute goes back to the landmark redistricting case Allen v. Milligan. Back in 2023, the Supreme Court sided with Black voters who argued the state’s congressional map diluted their political influence. The state was ordered to create an additional district that gave Black voters a meaningful opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. The revised map ultimately helped elect two Black Democrats in Alabama, Rep. Shomari Figures and Rep. Terri Sewell.
Tuesday’s ruling, however, now threatens all Republican hopes of reclaiming one of those seats for themselves. The move could also have broader implications in the battle to take control of the U.S. House, where even a handful of districts could determine which party holds power after the midterms.
The Alabama case is unfolding alongside the redistricting fight in Virginia, which also landed at the Supreme Court’s doorstep. Democrats there filed an emergency appeal seeking to revive their historic voter-approved congressional map after state courts struck it down on May 8. The dispute reflects a growing scramble by both parties to redraw political boundaries to gain the upper hand by November. In turn, however, it’s often Black voters who pay the price, as we outlined in our story about all the Black-led districts now at risk.
Voting rights advocates are celebrating the Alabama ruling, while Republicans are expected to continue their legal challenge and could once again ask the Supreme Court to intervene.
