NRF Asks SCOTUS to Deny Alabama’s Attempt to Disrupt An Ongoing Election

Washington, D.C. – Today, the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF) filed a legal brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to deny Alabama’s desperate and hypocritical attempt to expedite a challenge to its congressional map in the case Caster v. Allen. With the state’s primary election just 19 days away and voting already underway, Alabama’s request to the Supreme Court both contradicts its own past legal arguments that similar actions would cause “chaos and confusion” and threatens to disenfranchise voters who have already cast ballots.

“Alabama is once again trying to move the goalposts to suit its own partisan interests, showing a blatant disregard for the very legal principles it once championed,” said Marina Jenkins, Executive Director of the National Redistricting Foundation. “The Court should not entertain this transparent attempt to subvert the rule of law. After flailing at every level of the federal judicial system, Alabama seeks to short-circuit ordinary procedures while citizens are already casting their ballots. Granting such an extraordinary request would be a head-spinning reversal of precedent and a direct assault on the fairness of our elections.”

In 2021, the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF) filed the first legal challenge against the state of Alabama’s gerrymandered map, providing financial support for and directing the litigation on behalf of the Caster plaintiff group. That lawsuit ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court in Allen v. Milligan, where the Court’s 2023 decision upheld Section 2 of the VRA. Subsequently, the federal district court ordered Alabama to draw a new map that complies with the VRA—a map that includes two Black opportunity districts. 

Yet, in defiance of both orders, the Alabama Legislature again drew a map that included just one Black opportunity district. The NRF-supported voters then challenged the Alabama Legislature’s newly proposed gerrymander in court. The court rejected it, ultimately adopting Alabama’s current VRA-compliant map, which gave Black voters the opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice in two congressional districts for the 2024 election.

Notwithstanding the U.S. Supreme Court’s affirmation of the NRF’s victory on behalf of Black voters in Allen v. Milligan, the state of Alabama continued to fight enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. The case went to trial again before a panel of judges from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District, who affirmed that Alabama’s congressional map must comply with the VRA and have two Black opportunity districts. Following the trial, Alabama appealed the trial court’s decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Immediately after the Supreme Court issued its decision in Louisiana v. Callais, Alabama submitted a desperate, last-minute petition to the Court to expedite its case in hopes of having the opportunity to redraw the state’s congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. With the state’s primary election just 19 days away and voting already underway, the Court may determine the fate of Alabama’s VRA-compliant congressional map just six months before the November elections. To learn more about the NRF’s work, click here.

###