ICYMI: NRF-Supported VRA Plaintiffs Submit Fair, Compliant Map for Alabama Legislature’s Consideration
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Brooke Lillard
lillard@redistrictingfoundation.org
ICYMI: NRF-Supported VRA Plaintiffs Submit Fair, Compliant Map for Alabama Legislature’s Consideration
Washington, D.C. – As reported on AL.com, the Voting Rights Act (VRA) plaintiffs in Allen v. Milligan submitted a fair, VRA compliant congressional map for the Alabama legislature’s consideration as it begins the redraw process as ordered by the Supreme Court of the United States. The National Redistricting Foundation (NRF), the 501(c)(3) affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), supported the VRA plaintiffs in this effort.
The NRF initiated this case from the beginning, in support of the Caster plaintiffs. The Caster case was consolidated with a similar case brought by another group of plaintiffs, the Milligan plaintiffs. Since the start, the NRF has directed the legal strategy in the case and financially supported the Caster plaintiff group and legal team.
“The VRA Plaintiffs’ map is a fair map that provides the representation Black Alabamians are rightly due in accordance with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act,” said Marina Jenkins, Executive Director of the NRF. “Should the Alabama legislature enact a map that falls short of including two congressional districts with a Black Voting Age Population of more than 50 percent, it will be challenged in court.”
The VRA plaintiffs’ map achieves three main characteristics that make it fair and legally compliant:
1) There are two majority-Black congressional districts: The map includes two majority-Black congressional districts, congressional districts 2 and 7. Both districts 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 as required by the VRA. Specifically, the 2nd Congressional District has a 50.08 percent BVAP and the 7th Congressional District has a 54.43 percent BVAP.
2) All of Alabama’s Black Belt counties are protected: All of Alabama’s 18 Black Belt counties are kept within the two majority-Black districts and none of those counties are split apart among multiple districts.
3) Most of Alabama’s original congressional map is kept intact: Congressional districts 1 and 2 were the only districts to see significant change in order to create a second Black opportunity district. Congressional districts 3, 6, and 7, maintain almost 90 percent of their current constituents. Congressional districts 4 and 5 do not experience any change.
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