Alabama lawmakers are under pressure to create a new voting map that complies with a Supreme Court order to address the dilution of Black voters’ power in the state. The Republican supermajority will convene for a special session this week to develop a replacement district that allows Black voters to elect a representative of their choice. Other states in the South could face similar challenges to their voting rights, and Republicans are concerned about maintaining their slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives next year. This session also comes at a critical moment in the debate over the constitutionality of considering race in government decisions as conservatives continue to undermine equal rights protections. Alabama has a history of disputes over the enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, and the current fight is a result of lawsuits opposing the map drawn after the 2020 census, which packed Black voters into one district while the remaining districts elected white Republicans. The state legislature argued that the situation was due to politics rather than race, but a federal panel of judges determined the map likely violated the Voting Rights Act and ordered it to be redrawn. The Supreme Court upheld Section 2 of the act, which bans discriminatory election laws, but its decision could have ripple effects on other lawsuits and states. The Alabama legislature must create a new map by Friday that gains approval from a federal court, or the court could intervene and draw its own map. However, Republicans face a challenge in potentially jeopardizing one of their own seats in Congress. Democrats are divided on which plan to support, with some favoring a map that avoids racial considerations, while others want to create new districts using traditionally Democratic voting blocs. The Republican supermajority has not publicly backed a plan, causing Democrats to express frustration with the lack of transparency in the process. With the deadline approaching, Alabama lawmakers are facing intense pressure to quickly find a solution.
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