It’s unlikely that Alabama will be able to redraw its congressional map within the decade like other states, according to House Pro-Tem Chris Pringle (R-Mobile).
The State of Alabama is still defending its congressional map, which legislators approved in 2023. A special master hired by a three-judge panel in Birmingham redrew the map for the 2024 congressional elections after Democrats and liberal groups were successful in their initial legal challenge. The issue is still being litigated. The new map resulted in Democrats picking up one seat in Alabama in Congressional District 2 with U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures (D-Mobile) in 2024.
U.S. Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus, U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco and U.S. District Judge Terry Moorer ruled the 2023 plan violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
In August, a federal court barred Alabama from redrawing its current, court-ordered congressional map again until 2030.
Virginia voters narrowly passed a redistricting referendum on Tuesday that redrew the state’s congressional map to make 10 of the 11 seats likely Democrat. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has also called a special session on redistricting.
Pringle, chair of the Permanent Legislative Reapportionment Committee, told 1819 News on Wednesday that chances of Alabama lawmakers drawing a new map before 2030 were “slim to none.”
“The three-judge federal panel that ruled against us. They didn’t just rule against us on the Section 2 violation. They ruled against us on a 14th Amendment violation. Then they enjoined us from redrawing our districts until after the 2030 Census and they also held jurisdiction over the decision so any appeal has to go to them,” Pringle said. “(Former Alabama Solicitor General) Eddie LaCour blew that case so bad and made those judges so angry they built a wall around the state of Alabama. You go back and read my comments. When they handed down the ruling in the Singleton case, my comment was, ‘This ruling will haunt the state of Alabama for decades.’ Eddie LaCour made those judges so angry, they put a ruling out that built a wall around us that we can’t redraw.”
A favorable opinion by the U.S. Supreme Court in a Louisiana redistricting case dealing with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act likely wouldn’t change anything for Alabama, according to Pringle.
“Even if they overturn Section 2, we have a 14th Amendment violation. Everybody is looking at the Louisiana case, even if the Supreme Court changes Section 2, we’ve got a 14th Amendment violation,” Pringle said. “Those judges, they built a wall around the state that the chances of us having the ability to redraw before the 2030 Census are slim to none because we’d have to get those same judges to lift their order that we can’t redraw. I don’t see those judges changing their order. They worked too hard to get from a Section 2 to a 14th Amendment violation to lock us down.”
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