Overview
- A three-judge federal panel on May 26 found Alabama’s 2023 congressional plan intentionally diluted Black voting strength and barred its use, directing election officials to rely on a court-appointed special master’s map instead.
- State officials asked the U.S. Supreme Court on May 27 for an emergency stay to restore the legislature’s map, and Justice Clarence Thomas set a challengers’ response deadline of 4 p.m. on June 1 rather than issuing an immediate administrative pause.
- Groups challenging the map told the Court on June 1 that reassigning voters now is administratively impossible because candidate-certification and voter-roll deadlines are imminent and some county offices are closed for the state holiday for Jefferson Davis’ birthday.
- The U.S. Solicitor General and the National Republican Congressional Committee filed friend-of-the-court briefs supporting Alabama, arguing federal courts should not change election rules at the last minute and that the state is likely to win on the law.
- The dispute rests on the Supreme Court’s April 29 Louisiana v. Callais ruling, which changed how Section 2 and racial-gerrymandering claims are judged, and the outcome will shape whether a court-drawn remedy governs 2026 ballots and how voters are assigned for a possible August special primary.