NRF Responds to Alabama Republicans Passing Gerrymandered Maps in Committee

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Jena Doyle

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NRF Responds to Alabama Republicans Passing Gerrymandered Maps in Committee

House, Senate Republicans Passed Maps that Include Just 1 Black Opportunity District, Defying the Court’s Order

Washington, D.C. – Today, House and Senate Committees in the Alabama Legislature passed gerrymandered congressional maps along party lines. Both maps contain just one Black opportunity district despite the fact that the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that such a map would violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). Both the House and the Senate maps draw the second congressional district to have a Black Voting Age Population (BVAP) percentage 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. Specifically, the House’s congressional map includes a second congressional district with a BVAP of 42.45 percent and the Senate’s congressional map includes a second congressional district with a BVAP of 38.31 percent. 

Just yesterday, the Alabama Legislative Committee on Reapportionment passed the House’s proposed congressional map, titled “Communities of Interest Plan.” The Senate’s proposed map is titled “Livingston Plan 2.” The public has not been given an opportunity to respond to either of these maps. 

Marina Jenkins, Executive Director of the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF), issued the following statement: 

“In order to comply with the VRA and the court’s order, any remedial plan for Alabama will need to include two districts in which Black voters either comprise a voting-age majority or something quite close to it—neither the House nor the Senate’s proposed congressional maps come anywhere close to achieving that. Alabama Republicans are intentionally drawing political retention maps at the expense of Black Alabamians—in defiance of the Supreme Court and the Alabama district court. It is a continuation of the state’s long, sordid history of disenfranchising Black voters. Should either of these maps be enacted, it will be challenged in court.”

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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