MONTGOMERY — Minutes after the Alabama House of Representatives adjourned for the first day of the recently called special session to address the state's congressional map, House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) spoke about his expectations moving forward and addressed speculation surrounding the legislature's actions.
Governor Kay Ivey called the special session last week, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Louisiana that race-based redistricting was unconstitutional. With primary elections mere weeks away, Attorney General Steve Marshall has already filed emergency requests with the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the state to redraw its congressional map, removing a previous injunction that barred the state from doing so until the 2030 census.
Ledbetter stated on Monday that the state would revert to the map drawn by lawmakers in 2023 if the injunction is lifted.
Federal courts quashed the map lawmakers passed in 2021, claiming it likely violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by its perceived lack of black representation. Lawmakers passed another congressional map in 2023 to assuage the court's concerns, which was similarly rejected by a three-judge panel for the same reasons.
A federally appointed special master drew a map for the State to use in the 2024 election, and the State remains under a court order prohibiting the use of new congressional maps until after the 2030 Census.
A massive rhetorical push following the announcement of a special session is the long-trotted-out claim that Alabama's leadership is trying to cut out the black vote in the state.
When asked about this, Ledbetter rejected the premise that the redistricting was disenfranchising black people, noting that "black" and "Democrat" were not synonymous.
"I don't see it that way," Ledbetter said. "I don't know that all Democrats are black voters. Certainly, the way that the courts set it up, it's not supposed to be racially gerrymandered. Well, it was. They compacted all the African Americans in those districts."
He continued, "My thing is, I think that people voted to have the supermajority the way it is today. So, this is the voice of the people. We had three judges determine how 5 million people were supposed to vote, and I don't think that's the way. That's why there's three branches of government."
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