Plaintiffs who challenged 33 different State House and Senate districts dropped challenges to all but two areas this week following Attorney General Steve Marshall's filing of a motion to dismiss the claims.
Now, challenges to only Senate districts in Huntsville and Montgomery areas remain, according to Marshall.
"For two years, my office has been defending the State's redistricting plans. I am pleased to report that the plaintiffs have dropped all their challenges to the State House districts and nearly all their challenges to the State Senate districts," Marshall said on Thursday. "We think the plaintiffs' remaining two claims also lack merit. I will continue to defend Alabama's laws and fight attempts to redraw our districts based on racial goals rather than common interests."
Plaintiffs' challenges focus on State Senate Districts 25 and 26 held by State Sens. Will Barfoot (R-Pike Road) and Kirk Hatcher (D-Montgomery), respectively. They also claim Huntsville area State Senate districts held by State Sens. Tom Butler (R-Madison), Sam Givhan (R-Huntsville) and Steve Livingston (R-Scottsboro) "unnecessarily cracks Black voters."
"In Montgomery, it unnecessarily packs Black voters into State Senate District 26 in Montgomery while carving white residents out of the district and into District 25. The plan does so even though (1) Black voting-age citizens are sufficiently numerous and geographically compact to form a reasonably configured majority in an additional State Senate District in the Montgomery area; (2) the voting patterns of Black voters in the Montgomery area are politically cohesive; and (3) white voters in this region of Alabama vote sufficiently as a bloc typically to defeat the candidates preferred by Black voters," plaintiffs wrote in an amended complaint this week. "In the Huntsville region, SB 1 unnecessarily cracks Black voters in State Senate Districts 2, 7, and 8 in Huntsville, thereby preserving three districts where candidates preferred by white voters reliably win. The plan does so even though (1) Black voting-age citizens in the Huntsville area are sufficiently numerous and geographically compact to form a reasonably configured majority in a State Senate District; (2) the voting patterns of Black voters in the Huntsville area are politically cohesive; and (3) white voters in this region of Alabama vote sufficiently as a bloc typically to defeat the candidates preferred by Black voters."
The group of plaintiffs suing the State over its state legislative map is similar to the group that is suing the State over its federal redistricting plans. It includes groups such as the NAACP, SPLC and the ACLU.
Chief Deputy Attorney General Clay Crenshaw on Thursday told a panel of lawmakers the State is preparing for a possible trial in the case in the fall of 2024, according to Alabama Daily News.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email caleb.taylor@1819News.com.
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