(CN) — With a court-ordered July 21 deadline looming, the Republican supermajority in Alabama appears poised to push a new congressional map through the Legislature over the objections of anyone with a proposed alternative.
The state’s second special legislative session of the year began Monday, 39 days after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a surprise ruling finding the state’s previous map violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
Although the Alabama Joint Permanent Legislative Committee on Reapportionment has met a few times since then to consider new maps, it was only Friday that the committee’s chairman, state Representative Chris Pringle, a Republican from Mobile, introduced his preferred alternative known as the “communities of interest” map.
It received a favorable report from the House of Representatives State Government Committee Tuesday and is scheduled to be introduced on the House floor Wednesday. Over the objections of Democrats on Monday, Pringle explained his map was the result of a discussion between himself, an attorney and a demographer and said it “meets or exceeds” the requirements established by the federal courts.
Alabama’s 2020 redistricting map was initially ruled unconstitutional by a three-judge federal panel which determined that because the state’s Black population is nearly 27%, Black voters should have the opportunity to elect the candidate of their choice in more than the single congressional district where they represented the majority. Alabama has seven congressional districts yet just one — District 7 — is represented by a Black Democrat, U.S. Representative Terri Sewell of Selma.
Under Pringle’s proposed “communities of interest” map, the Black Voting Age Population (BVAP) of District 7 will slightly decrease but remain a majority at 51.55%, but the BVAP of District 2 will increase from 30.12% to 42.45%. Although it would not represent a true majority-minority district, Pringle said the electoral history of District 2 suggests it could still elect a Democrat with crossover support from voters who identify as white or independent.
For example, even with a white majority, 47.53% of District 2 voted for the Democratic candidate in the 2020 presidential election, while 50.23% voted for the Democratic candidate in the 2020 U.S. Senate race and 47.77% voted for the Democratic candidate in the 2018 governor’s race.
District 2 is currently represented by Congressman Barry Moore, a white Republican from the city of Enterprise. Moore was elected in 2020 and 2022 by margins of 65.2% and 69%, respectively.
“We’re not trying to be nefarious,” Pringle said Monday of the process to approve a new map. “We’re trying to be as open and responsible as we can given the time and staff constraints we have.”
State Representative Chris England was one of several opponents to the communities of interest map, protesting the expedited timeline and lack of independent legal analysis or racial polarization studies. He predicted the proposed map’s lack of a true second majority minority district will fail the Supreme Court’s test.
“In the district court ruling, it was stated Alabama has a strong tendency toward racially polarized voting,” England, a Democrat, said Monday. “To that end, the goals of the Voting Rights Act aren't just to elect anybody. It's to give African Americans the opportunity to elect a candidate of choice.”
Pringle agreed, emphasizing, “the goal here for me was to provide the opportunity for an African American to be elected to Congress in the Second Congressional District.”
A main feature of Pringle’s map is the inclusion of both Mobile and Baldwin counties in District 1, where they will continue to be represented by Congressman Jerry Carl, a white Republican from Mobile. Maps proposed by the plaintiffs in the case and others seek to carve out Black voters in Mobile or separate the coastal counties.
Pringle argued the coastal counties exist today as “communities of interest,” while England and others disagreed. Notably, while keeping the coastal counties together, Pringle’s proposed map would split counties in the rural region known as the Black Belt.
On Tuesday, Pringle said his definition of communities of interest is “people who live and work together,” but also added, “we’re going to let the courts decide.”
In the Supreme Court’s majority opinion June 8, Chief Justice John Roberts was clear about the Gulf Coast, writing the state’s argument “is not persuasive.”
“Even if the Gulf Coast did constitute a community of interest, moreover, the district court found that plaintiff’s maps would still be reasonably configured because they joined together a different community of interest called the Black Belt,” Roberts wrote.
Both England and state Senator Vivian Davis-Figures, a Black Democrat from Mobile, sought to advance a map proposed by the plaintiffs in the case against the state. Their remedial map features a BVAP of 50.08% in District 2 and 54.43% in District 7.
“The appropriate remedy is two districts where Black voters are in the majority or close to it,” Figures said Monday. “Maps that don't create majority Black districts are not likely to be compliant with the court’s order because they are not likely to effectively create opportunities for Black voters to elect candidates of their choice.”
But Pringle attacked the Democrat’s proposal for achieving a second majority minority district only by racially gerrymandering portions of Jefferson, Houston and Mobile counties.
Meanwhile, the Alabama Senate Confirmations Committee Tuesday approved a separate but similar map proposed by state Senator Steve Livingston, a white Republican from Scottsboro. It also keeps the coastal region whole and only provides a single majority minority district.
The Livingston Congressional Plan carves out even a more narrow BVAP of 50.43% in District 7, while claiming a BVAP of 38.31% in District 2 will provide an “opportunity district” for Black voters.
"This plan is based on neutral principles promoting communities of interest in the Gulf, Black Belt, and the Wiregrass," Livingston said. “This plan complies with the Voting Rights Act."
While lawmakers will have the opportunity to introduce legislation proposing other maps before the Friday deadline, it is likely the Republican supermajority will alter and approve one of their own. Other maps can be viewed here. The House of Representatives and Senate reconvene at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Wednesday, respectively.
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