Voting rights groups asked for emergency court action as Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey calls special elections, challenging how newly ordered maps will be used.
Special elections in Alabama are now on the calendar after a rapid escalation over congressional and state Senate district boundaries, but voting rights groups are urging courts to step in immediately to keep already-cast ballots on the books.
Gov.. Kay Ivey moved quickly Tuesday to call special elections in August for U.S.. Congress and State Senate districts.. The move follows lawmakers’ maps being overridden by federal courts. and it comes as plaintiffs in Milligan—the case that produced court-drawn maps—filed a motion seeking a temporary restraining order that would require Alabama to keep using the maps created by the courts as a remedy for alleged racial discrimination.
The plaintiffs said the latest Supreme Court action continues what they describe as a pattern of decisions undermining Black voters’ rights.. In a joint statement. they argued the ruling is aimed at entrenching power for a small group while denying Black voters equal rights.. They also said it conflicts with the court’s own earlier decision in the same case and runs against longstanding legal precedent meant to prevent states from changing election rules too close to a vote.
At the heart of the groups’ complaint is timing and disruption.. With voting already underway. the plaintiffs said the Supreme Court’s order has produced chaos for Alabama election officials and voters.. They warned that allowing Alabama to replace a remedial district map—approved by a district court after findings about discriminatory effects and intent—would amount to displacing that remedy.
The motion also targets the consequences for elections in motion.. The plaintiffs argued that the state is asking to use a different map “for the very first time” in elections even though voters have already cast ballots on the existing. court-ordered map.. They said that approach is an affront to democratic ideals and could open the door to a map they characterize as an extreme gerrymander that violates both the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act.
The underlying dispute began when Milligan plaintiffs challenged an Alabama congressional map in 2021, alleging it unlawfully diluted Black political power. Two years later, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling that struck down that 2021 map. Alabama then drew a new map in 2023.
After trial. a district court found the state’s 2023 map produced a discriminatory result in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and concluded the Legislature intentionally discriminated against Black voters in violation of the U.S.. Constitution.. The district court struck down the 2023 map and ordered use of Alabama’s current court-drawn congressional map.. That court-drawn map was used in the 2024 election, and it also carried into Alabama’s ongoing 2026 primary elections.
The timing of ballots already cast is central to the emergency relief effort.. The National Redistricting Foundation lent its support to the motion.. In its comments Tuesday. the group said ballots had already been cast in Alabama’s May 19 congressional primary elections under a map that includes two majority-Black districts.
NRF’s executive director. Marina Jenkins. argued that Alabama is rushing to toss out results from an election that is already in progress in order to impose a gerrymander she said is designed to diminish Black voters’ political power.. She warned that the practical effect would be giving the state the authority to decide whose votes count and whose do not. calling that a serious threat to the right to vote.
Jenkins urged the court to act quickly to stop what she described as unbridled chaos and to allow the ongoing election to proceed on the existing map. under which ballots have already been cast.. Her comments framed the dispute not only as a legal conflict over district lines. but also as a question of electoral stability for voters and election administrators.
Meanwhile, Gov.. Ivey’s decision to schedule special elections in August signals that the state plans to move forward with new district arrangements tied to the most recent court developments.. The confrontation now puts a renewed spotlight on how federal court remedies interact with election timelines. and whether Alabama can proceed with its special-election plan while the plaintiffs pursue emergency intervention to preserve the map currently reflected in ballots.
Alabama special elections voting rights Milligan case district maps Voting Rights Act Kay Ivey gerrymandering
so they just changing the maps whenever they feel like it?? that dont seem legal at all
I dont understand why they keep redoing these elections over and over it feels like nobody ever just accepts the results anymore. my mom already sent in her ballot and now what does that even mean for her vote. this whole thing is exhausting honestly.
this is exactly what happened in Georgia too remember when they did the same thing with the maps and everybody lost their votes that time. Kay Ivey has been doing stuff like this for years and nobody ever holds her accountable. I read somewhere that this is actually connected to the 2020 thing still being fought in courts which makes total sense if you think about it. the whole point is to confuse voters so they just give up and stop trying to participate thats the real strategy here and its been working.
wait so the supreme court told them to use different maps but the voting groups are saying keep the old maps?? I thought the supreme court was on the side of voting rights now I’m confused about who is actually helping here