A plaintiff in the landmark Alabama redistricting case says she is "devastated" after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for the state to redraw congressional maps just days before the May 19 primary.

The Supreme Court's 6-3 order cited its recent ruling weakening the Voting Rights Act and vacated a lower court injunction that had blocked Alabama from changing its maps until 2030.

Letetia Daniels Jackson, one of the plaintiffs in Allen v. Milligan, said the ruling interferes with an election already underway.

"We're seeing in real time an interference with the current execution of a primary election," she said, "and I'm devastated by that, because it seems that new rules are being written that actually overturn decades of precedent."

Jackson noted that military and absentee voters have already cast ballots.

State officials defend the new map as lawful. The Supreme Court's order cites Louisiana v. Callais, which significantly weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by requiring plaintiffs to prove intentional discrimination, a much higher legal bar. The plaintiffs have filed for a temporary restraining order to keep the current court-ordered map in place for the May 19 primary.

Jackson said the ruling sends a clear message to Black Alabamians.

"It is basically sending us back pre-Voting Rights Act," she said, "where we actually have no hope whatsoever to have fair representation and to have a voice in the governance of our cities, of our state, and of our country."

Black Alabamians make up more than 27% of the state's population but have only one majority-Black congressional district out of seven. Gov. Kay Ivey has called special primary elections for August under the newly allowed map, invoking House Bill 1. But that law faces a potential legal challenge. Alabama voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2022 that says election changes cannot occur within six months of the general election. HB 1 was signed on May 8, less than six months before the Nov. 3 general election.

Source: Public News Service