The Supreme Court on Tuesday heard oral arguments on whether Alabama’s new congressional map deprives black voters—a case that could have ramifications across the country.
The issue is a map of the state’s seven House districts based on the 2020 census, which civil rights and other liberal groups argue undermines the political power of black voters.
Although blacks make up 27% of the state’s population, they are the majority in just one of the seven districts.
A chapter of the NAACP, a group of voters from Alabama and the multi-faith organization Greater Birmingham Ministries sued, saying the map concentrated black voters in a single district and spreads the remainder across the state.
The plaintiffs argue that the map hinders their ability to choose their preferred candidates and violates the part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that prohibits discrimination against voters because of caste.
They want the map to be redrawn to create a second majority black district.
Alabama maintains that the election must remain “race neutral” and that creating another majority-black district would actually violate the Constitution by requiring “race-based sorting.”
A three-judge appeals court panel, which included two appointees of former President Donald Trump, ruled unanimously in January that the map violated the Voting Rights Act and agreed that two majority-black districts would run for the 2022 elections. should be created.
But the Supreme Court stayed the lower court’s decision in February, with conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh insisting that a new map order came too close to the November 8 midterm elections.
Chief Justice John Roberts joined the liberal wing of the court in its disagreement.
Alabama wants the court to overturn the appeals court’s decision and retain the map until the 2030 Census requires redrawn maps.
post with wires