NRF-Supported Plaintiffs Submit Fair Map to Alabama Special Master

For Immediate Release
September 11, 2023
Contact
Jena Doyle
doyle@redistrictingfoundation.org

NRF-Supported Plaintiffs Submit Fair Map to Alabama Special Master

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Voting Rights Act (VRA) plaintiffs in Caster v. Allen submitted a fair, compliant congressional map for the Special Master’s consideration as the remedial process begins following a ruling by a three-judge federal district panel striking down Alabama’s latest congressional map. The National Redistricting Foundation (NRF), the 501(c)(3) affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), is continuing to provide financial support and direct the litigation strategy for the Caster plaintiffs in this case. 

“This map provides Black Alabamians the representation they rightly deserve in accordance with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act,” said Olivia Mendoza, Director of Litigation and Policy for the NRF. “A fair, compliant map must include two congressional districts in which Black voters have a true and meaningful opportunity to elect a candidate of choice, and the VRA Plaintiffs’ map does just that. The Special Master can and should adopt this map.” 

The VRA plaintiffs’ map achieves two key objectives that make it fair and legally compliant: 

1) There are two Black opportunity 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. 

The map submission can be found HERE.

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