Reapportionment committee fails to pass map that creates two majority-minority Congressional districts, voting rights advocates concerned, disappointed
On Monday, July 17, the opening day of the special session for redistricting, the reapportionment committee, largely composed of the super-majority party, gave approval for a revised state congressional map that still failed to draw two majority-minority districts and voting rights advocates are especially concerned about this move. The Alabama Legislature is overwhelmingly Republican which means legislators can pass maps without a single vote from members of the minority party (Democrats).
The legislature has until Friday, July 21 to submit a map to the federal court after the Supreme Court ruling on June 8 in the Milligan v. Allen argued that the map drawn by the legislature violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and diluted the black vote in Alabama.
Despite the Supreme Court ruling calling for the Alabama Legislature to redraw its congressional map to include two majority black districts, the committee approved a map titled the “Community of Interest” map that creates one district that has a black voting age population of 51.55 percent (Congressional District 7) and a second one that has a 42.45 percent BVAP (Congressional District 2).
Minority party members expressed their concerns about being excluded from the process, something they also experienced during the 2021 redistricting cycle.
“We are just placeholders, seat holders up here,” said Sen. Vivian Figures. “We have no voice whatsoever.”
Voting rights advocates, many of whom have been working throughout the last two years to fight for equitable maps and adequate representation, spoke out against the “Community of Interest Plan,” which is being sponsored by reapportionment committee co-chair Rep. Chris Pringle.
“As Founding President of Stand Up Mobile, I am disappointed in the Alabama State Reapportionment Committee and its inability to adequately follow instructions,” said Shalela Dowdy, founding president of Stand Up Mobile. “The United States Supreme Court clearly stated Alabama’s congressional maps were gerrymandered and the need for two majority Black Congressional Districts. It appears that the committee has tried to pull the same card that they did in 2021 by choosing to lack transparency and not allowing for public input. These actions have shown that those on the committee who supported their map do not respect the need for fairness for Black citizens in the state. This is a reminder that there is still much work to be done.”
The map splits the counties of Lauderdale, Jefferson, Tuscaloosa, Chilton, Conecuh and Covington.
“Faith in Action Alabama is strongly disappointed in what the committee passed out Monday. The expectation of the U.S. Supreme Court was for our state legislature to redraw Alabama’s Congressional maps so we would have two majority African American districts and this falls far, far short. The committee’s decision, if approved by our entire state legislative body, would greatly harm our state’s democracy,” said Daniel Schwartz, executive director of Faith in Action Alabama.
Other organizations agreed.
“When the Supreme Court rejected Alabama’s discriminatory congressional redistricting map and upheld the lower court’s order for the state to redraw its map, this is surely not what it had in mind,” said Jess Unger, senior staff attorney for voting rights at the Southern Poverty Law Center. “We have witnessed yet another opaque decision-making process marred by votes along race and party lines to recommend yet another racially dilutive map. The new map, recommended Monday by the Committee on Reapportionment, appears not to create a second district with a genuine opportunity to elect a candidate of choice for Black voters in Alabama—which is the problem the court ordered the state to fix. The Committee again thumbed its nose at the concept of protecting the Black Belt community of interest, a community that the court specifically recognized as a legitimate community around which to draw a district.”
The overall goal of redrawing the maps has been to give black and brown voters in Alabama a chance to elect candidates of their choice thus giving black voters more voting power, but advocates said the map passed out of the reapportionment committee does not do that.
“Monday, by recommending its so-called ‘Community Interest Map’ to the Alabama Special Legislative Session, the Alabama Reapportionment Committee supermajority chose to ignore not only the Milligan plaintiffs but also the interests of voters of Alabama,” said Kathy Jones, president of the League of Women Voters Alabama. “The map nearly eliminates the majority-Black voting power in the existing majority-Black congressional district and fails to do what the U.S. Supreme Court mandated: create a second majority-Black district. In fact, the map dilutes the Black voting strength in every congressional district. With their approval of this sham map Monday, the Committee continues to violate section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
“This plan is an attempt to dilute voting power in Alabama’s only majority-Black district by carving up the Black Belt region without actually creating a second opportunity district where Black voters stand a reasonable chance of electing true representation at the polls–a scenario all too familiar to the Black Belt and rural Black voters across the state,” said Justin Vest of the Alabama Election Protection Network and executive director of Hometown Organizing Project.
Members of the reapportionment committee only received the Community of Interest map on Friday evening a day after the second public hearing, which was less than a business day before the committee hearing that was held at 10 a.m. on Monday, July 17. There were no options for community input on the map during the July 17 meeting and it was not clear on Friday when lawmakers received the maps that the plan was brought by Pringle.
“The Court’s order was clear. Black voters must make up the majority of voters in two out of the state’s seven congressional districts,” said JaTaune Bosby Gilchrist, the executive director of the ACLU of Alabama. “What was unconstitutional a month ago is unconstitutional today. Adopting a map nearly identical to what the Supreme Court threw out last month would mean Alabama is still violating the Voting Rights Act.
During Monday’s reapportionment committee meeting, Pringle and Livingston stated they did not know where most of the additional maps came from and cited time constraints for not having data needed for other committee members to make an educated and informed decision.
“Monday the Legislative reapportionment committee concluded a congressional district map deliberation process that seemed as confusing to its committee members as it was to watch. The committee chair repeatedly referred to the hundreds of maps submitted to that committee from people around the state and even the world. He explained that the committee’s small staff team were overwhelmed by the amount of work needed to process this public feedback. However, despite being asked to do so, the committee co-chairs refused to explain how they evaluated these publicly submitted maps and determined which deserved to be seriously considered by the committee members,” said Deanna Fowler, deputy director of Alabama Forward. “The co-chairs failed to outline how or why they chose the smaller collection of maps reviewed during their final meeting Monday. Alabamians were failed by this secretive process and we are concerned that the outcome of Monday’s decision is a step backward for our state, one that also likely fails to comply with the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on this issue.”
“My primary concern centers around the representation of Jefferson County and its community of interest. The proposed map continues the troubling trend of splitting Jefferson County, which hosts a significant number of black voters. Instead of enhancing representation, this division dilutes the voting power of these communities and undermines the spirit of the Voting Rights Act,” said Cara McClure, founder and executive director of Faith & Works. “The Singleton-Smitherman plan, which puts forth Jefferson County as its own community of interest, is a more equitable solution. By keeping Jefferson County as a unified entity, we can ensure that the interests of this region, particularly those of black voters, are accurately represented. The newly proposed map also incorporates additional areas such as Dallas, Lowndes, and Montgomery counties into Congressional District 2. While expanding the reach of this district might look appealing on paper, it threatens to further dilute the voting power of Jefferson County residents. Moreover, the inclusion of areas like Washington County into the 7th Congressional District appears arbitrary, given its proximity to Mobile. Such a move can lead to ‘packing’ or ‘cracking’ voters in ways that undermine fair representation.”
Members of the Jefferson County delegation and members of the public had expressed their thoughts on wanting to keep Jefferson County whole. During Monday’s meeting, Sen. Rodger Smitherman made a motion to adopt the CLC map plan, which would keep Jefferson County whole. It failed to pass 14-6.
Figures also made a motion to adopt the VRA Plaintiffs’ Remedial plan which was brought by the Milligan plaintiffs. It also failed to pass the committee 14-6. She also read a statement and rationale for why the VRA plaintiff remedial map is justified and would be a reasonable remedy on the SCOTUS ruling.
Figures said that the proper remedy is creating two majority-minority districts or something very close to it. She said that the VRA plan creates two black districts keeping the Black Belt whole, does not severely change the rest of the state and only introduces one additional county split. The VRA plan’s breakdown is 50.08 percent BVAP in Congressional District 2 and 54.43 percent BVAP in Congressional District 7.
Organizers are encouraging the legislature to draw maps that will represent black and brown communities and meet the requirements of the court ruling.
“Like our foreparents, Black Alabamians continue to blaze historic voting rights trails for the nation. But now it’s time for our state representatives and senators to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling and draw a map with two Black majority Congressional Districts,” said Dr. Adia Winfrey, founder of Transform Alabama. And to any Black Alabamian questioning the power of your vote, remember this redistricting fight, and race to the polls on Election Day.
