Governor Kay Ivey officially announced that the state would hold a special election for a handful of congressional seats, a path paved by the Alabama Legislature last week.
Ivey set the special primary election for August 11. There will be no runoff election. The general election will occur as planned with all other races on November 3.
The May 19 primary will still occur. However, any results cast for the races in the 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 7th congressional districts will be nullified after the August election. There will be no runoff following the special election. Meaning, the candidates for either party that receive the majority of the vote will automatically be the party's nominee.
"I will continue to say: Alabama knows our state, our people and our districts best. The United States Supreme Court's decision is plain common sense and enables our values to be best represented in Congress," Ivey said. "For years, we have fought for this outcome, and I am proud to celebrate this win for Alabamians."
She continued, "As I said at the close of our special session last week, Alabama now stands ready to quickly act. I thank Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter and Pro Tem Garlan Gudger for their focus last week that has allowed us to be in this strong position to move forward with our 2023 Alabama-drawn congressional map."
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.
The legislature's actions in the special session compelled a special election if the Supreme Court removed the injunction against the banned maps, which it did on Monday.
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