Eric Holder Responds to Alabama’s Latest Gerrymandered Congressional Map
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Jena Doyle
doyle@redistrictingfoundation.org
Eric Holder Responds to Alabama’s Latest Gerrymandered Congressional Map
NRF has pledged to challenge the map in court as an insufficient remedy to the state’s Section 2 violation
Washington, D.C. – Today, the Alabama Legislature passed a final, gerrymandered congressional map that contains just one Black opportunity district, where the Black Voting Age Population (BVAP) is at least 50 percent or close to it, despite the fact that the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that in Alabama such a map is a violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA).
Specifically, the Supreme Court affirmed a district court order that stated the following: “As the Legislature considers such plans, it should be mindful of the practical reality, based on the ample evidence of intensely racially polarized voting adduced during the preliminary injunction proceedings, that any remedial plan will need to include two districts in which Black voters either comprise a voting-age majority or something quite close to it.”
The new map includes just one Black opportunity district, with a second congressional district that has a BVAP of only 39.93 percent—an amount that falls far short of what is necessary and required to allow Black voters in Alabama an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice pursuant to Section 2 of the VRA. The National Redistricting Foundation (NRF), the 501(c)(3) affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), has pledged to challenge any congressional map in Alabama that falls short of including two districts with a BVAP of 50 percent or more.
Eric H. Holder, Jr., the 82nd Attorney General of the United States, released the following statement:
“This map, and the Republican politicians who supported it, would make George Wallace proud. It arrogantly defies a very conservative United States Supreme Court decision requiring the drawing of two Black opportunity districts in accordance with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act—from just weeks ago.
“Throughout the redraw process, the debate among legislative Republicans was never about how to best ensure Black Alabamians had the opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice. Instead, it was a debate between two maps that sought to preserve an illegal and discriminatory status quo, just in slightly different ways.
“This is a continuation of Alabama’s fraught history with racial inequity, a history filled with Black Alabamians’ struggle for equal rights. It is one where, at every turn, the federal courts have had to intervene on behalf of Black Alabamians in order to achieve the fair representation and equality they deserve as citizens of this nation. What is happening in Alabama underscores the absolute necessity of enforcing the legal protections in the Voting Rights Act.
“With Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act still intact as a result of the Supreme Court’s recent decision, we must again look to the federal courts to hold the Alabama legislature to account.”
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:
The NRF, the 501(c)(3) affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), supports the map developed by the plaintiff groups who succeeded on the Section 2 claim at issue in this case, what is officially titled “VRA Plaintiffs’ Remedial Plan.” The VRA Plaintiffs’ Remedial Plan provides fair and legally compliant representation to voters by including two congressional districts that have a Black Voting Age Population (BVAP) of above 50 percent, which is necessary for these districts to effectively provide an equal opportunity for Black voters in Alabama to elect their candidates of choice as required by the VRA. And it does this while making minimal changes to the state’s current map. More information about the VRA Plaintiffs’ Remedial Plan can be found here.
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