MONTGOMERY — Friday was a highly emotional and tense day in the Alabama House of Representatives, after lawmakers passed legislation allowing the use of currently court-barred maps in a special election if courts remove the injunctions.
The special session was called after the 6-3 majority ruling in Louisiana v. Callias, in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that race-based gerrymandering was unconstitutional. Alabama swiftly reacted, filing motions to have the injunction on both the congressional and state senate maps approved by lawmakers lifted. Lawmakers approved the 2023 congressional map following an initial map that was blocked by a federal court, forcing the legislature to approve another. Despite the redrawing, a three-judge panel likewise found that the 2023 map likely violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
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On Friday, members of the House met for the final day, where they approved legislation that would authorize a new special primary election to be held if a federal court issues an order or vacates an injunction, thereby allowing the legislature to use a previously enacted legislative State Senate redistricting plan in the 2026 general election.
The bill by State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Josephine) would be contingent on the court ruling being made too late to be accommodated within the normal primary election schedule. Any special primary election would not affect the 2026 general election date set for November 2026.
Democratic lawmakers made their objections known from the floor. However, they swiftly went upstairs to the gallery after law enforcement began to try to restore order. The House recessed, and Democratic lawmakers went upstairs to join the public.
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After the disruption, the House resumed business, not long before House Majority Leader Paul Lee (R-Dothan) issued a cloture motion, which passed, limiting discussion on the bill to 10 more minutes.
The bill passed along party lines, 75-29, after which the House adjourned sine die.
Members of the House Democratic Caucus told reporters after business ended that they intended to file legal challenges to the state's attempts to use the 2023 maps in the State courts.
The challenge intends to argue that the new law violates Amendment Four to the Alabama Constitution, which states that the "implementation date for any bill enacted by the Legislature in a calendar year in which a general election is to be held and relating to the conduct of the general election shall be at least six months before the general election."
"We are on strong footing on the federal and the state level," said State Rep. Prince Chestnut (D-Selma). "So we feel pretty confident about our chances. As long as we get a fair judiciary, we feel very comfortable."
House Pro Tem. Chris Pringle (R-Mobile) and House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) did not speak on the Amendment Four challenge. However, both contended that the bills passed during this special session did not mention or relate to the general election. Rather, it authorizes a special election should the court rule in the state's favor.
Ledbetter also released a statement following Friday's vote, stating he believed a special election would "guarantee" a 6-1 Republican majority in Congress.
"Our combined efforts have yielded real results. If Alabama's unlawful injunction is lifted by SCOTUS or a lower court before the federal primary election deadline, the state now has a plan in place to revert to the Legislature's 2023 map," Ledbetter said. "This guarantees that the Second Congressional District – which was wrongfully handed to democrats on a silver platter by the courts – is flipped back to republican control while also putting the Seventh Congressional District in play."
"As much as we would have preferred to draw a new map like our neighbors in Tennessee, the legal constraints created by Allen v. Milligan make that impossible today. Any other course of action would have all but guaranteed Alabama sends two Democrats to Congress at a time when control of the U.S. House could be decided by only a handful of seats – an outcome that our country cannot afford."
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