Alabama Redistricting Map Ruling Expected Next Week
The Republican battle to retain control of congress by rapidly redictricting in Alabama is now in the hands of a three-judge federal panel in North Alabama Federal District Court. The judge's decision will impact the scheduled August 11 special election in West Alabama's 7th Congressional District and four other districts in the state.
During a lengthy hearing Friday in Birmingham's Hugo Black Federal Courthouse the judges questioned whether it is even possible to pulloff the special election with such a short turnaround between Tuesday's primary, the June 16th runoff and the November Generral Election.
The Two Sides
Attorneys for the state and the plaintiffs argued two major issues. One, over which congressional map should be used in Alabama. They also aired differing viewpoints on what the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais means to Alabama's case. The court ruled race should not be used as a deciding factor in congressional districting.
The state claimes the high court ruling changes everything about the long-running Allen v. Milligan battle over district maps in Alabama. They told the judges, Alabama should be allowed to return to the 2023 map that does not include a second majority-minority district because of the decision. Plantiffs argued that the two cases are different.
“That’s what made the argument so confusing from the state today,” West Alabama Sen. Bobby Singleton of Greensboro, one of the plaintiffs, said. “To feel like coming back to, the 2023 map was not confusing to the people. That’s what blew me out of court today.”
“We hope that the court will rule quickly. We will be prepared to appeal quickly if that’s necessary,” said Robertson. “We want to make sure that Alabamians are able to have elections with the maps that they wanted in 2023.”
Both sides said they are prepared to take further legal steps if the judges do not rule in their favor.
The Timeline
Timing will be tight for the state if it wins. “Timing has certainly been a concern since the Callais order came out,” Asst. Attorney General Katheryn Robertson said. “The state has been taking steps to get ready for a change, and we feel like we can pull it off if the court will let us.”
Gov. Kay Ivey called a special election for congressional districts 1, 2, 6 and 7. Under the plan, the final votes in those districts during Tuesday's primary do not count. Requalifying ended Friday.
If the state wins, the special primary election will decide the party nominees and there will be no runoff allowed.
If the judges rule in the plaintiff's favor the May 19th primary votes will count.
During Friday's testimony, Alabama director of Elections Jeff Elrod told the court that the map approved by the legislature in 2023, which would be used August 11, has already been published on the Secretary of State website. He stated any confusion should be minim because the public has been made aware of the map through press conferences and press releases. He told judges he believes reassigning voters to the corrt districts can be done in a week.
After the Court's Ruling
A ruling on the case is expected sometime next week. Not surprisingly, each side in the case has vowd to appeal if the outcome goes against them.
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