Alabama Proceeds with Special Primary Election for 4 Congressional Districts Amid Redistricting Controversy

Alabama's elections just got more complicated. The state is moving ahead with a special primary election for four of its seven congressional districts, after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for Alabama to use a map that had been blocked by the courts. The move increases the chances of Republicans picking up an extra U.S. House seat. The Supreme Court's conservative majority vacated a lower court decision that had blocked a 2023 congressional map proposal and required the state to include a second largely Black district. The Supreme Court's order, which was opposed by the court's three liberal-leaning justices, came after its recent ruling in a Louisiana redistricting case that weakened the Voting Rights Act. Following that Louisiana decision, Alabama's Republican leaders sought to revert to the 2023 map proposal that would leave one largely Black, Democratic-held congressional district. "I will continue to say: Alabama knows our state, our people and our districts best," Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, said in a statement Tuesday announcing the special election. "The United States Supreme Court's decision is plain common sense and enables our values to be best represented in Congress." Ivey scheduled the special election because Alabama's regular primary is next Tuesday, May 19, with absentee voting already under way. She set an Aug. 11 special election for the congressional districts affected by the reversion to the 2023 map: the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th. "Alabamians now have another opportunity to send strong voices to Washington to fight for our values, and I encourage them to get out and vote in this special primary election on August 11," Ivey said. "I also urge them to head to the polls this coming Tuesday, May 19 to vote in all other races." Voting rights groups have asked a federal court to keep the current congressional map in place, writing in a filing: "Alabama's attempt to revert to its 2023 map—a map that was never implemented and under which no one has ever voted—when this election is already underway, absentee ballots have been mailed, and every relevant deadline under state and federal law has long since passed, is contrary to the public interest." The unique split primaries in Alabama come as other GOP-led states, such as Louisiana and South Carolina, also weigh dismantling majority-Black districts in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision on the Voting Rights Act.