(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court has cleared the way for Alabama Republicans to use a contested 2023 congressional map that a lower court last week called “intentional race-based discrimination” in violation of the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution.
The move is a significant win for the GOP, allowing the state to eliminate one of two majority-Black districts occupied by Democrats, even as election experts and state administrators have warned of major confusion for voters with the late change.
Civil rights groups lamented the decision as a stark example of the impact of the court’s historic April decision in Louisiana v. Callais which rolled back longstanding voting rights protections for minority voters.
In an unsigned opinion Tuesday, the court’s conservative majority said the unanimous three-judge panel — which included two Trump appointee — in the Alabama dispute failed to apply “updated” standards the justices issued in the Callais decision for proving a political process is not equally open for minority voters.
The court said the panel “did not heed the presumption of legislative good faith” by concluding state lawmakers had “discriminatory animus.”
The court’s decision concluded that the judges also erred in blocking the 2023 map even though the minority voters challenging it could not provide an alternative map that offered the same political advantages sought by Republicans.
Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey praised the decision, and her office confirmed the state would hold a special primary using the new maps with redrawn districts on Aug. 11.
“The U.S. Supreme Court confirmed what I have said all along and that is that Alabama knows our state, our people and our districts best,” Ivey said in a statement. “Today’s decision is a win for the people of Alabama and our elections.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a lengthy dissent joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, accused her colleagues of “unleashing chaos” and “confus[ing] voters.”
The map change will require state officials to change the voter registrations of hundreds of thousands of voters in a matter of days and educate them on where to cast new ballots.
“Just as Alabama doubled down on racial discrimination, the Court today doubles down on chaos,” Sotomayor wrote. “Because I choose to defend the rule of law and the right of all Alabamians to participate equally in democracy, I respectfully dissent.”
In 2024, Alabama had been required to use a map with two majority-Black districts, one of which was won by Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures.
The new map could allow Republicans to flip Figures’ seat.
The NAACP slammed the Supreme Court’s decision as discriminatory.
“The Supreme Court continues to unleash chaos in our democratic process, and with this latest action, gives Alabama approval to use a congressional map that had previously been found to be intentionally discriminatory,” NAACP General Counsel Kristen Clarke wrote in a statement. “This is a Court that is stripping Black voters of power and voice at a speed that would put Jim Crow jurists to shame. Our message to communities remains the same — the best way to express dissent is by showing up at the ballot box this election season.”
-ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.
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