On Thursday, a panel of three federal judges ordered Alabama to use a new congressional map in its upcoming elections in 2024.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall objected to all three map options submitted by a court-appointed special master last week.

Marshall said in a statement on Thursday, “The Voting Rights Act was enacted to undo gerrymanders, not create them. But ironically, the Act has now been used to separate what plaintiffs call 'Black Mobile' from the rest of Mobile, and then join 'Black Mobile' with Phenix City, roughly 250 miles away.” 

“Anyone who looks at the State’s map next to the map now imposed on the state can tell which is the racial gerrymander. That map violates the Constitution’s guarantee of equality for all. We will abide by the Court’s order for the 2024 election, and we will continue to defend the State’s law in court for future elections,” Marshall said.

The court’s plan has a black voting age population of 48.7% in Congressional District 2 and 51.9% in Congressional District 7. A performance analysis by the court-appointed special master said that Democrats won 16 of the 17 previous elections in Congressional District 2 and 17 of 17 previous elections in Congressional District 7. 

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