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Federal panel blocks Alabama's GOP congressional map as intentional racial discrimination

On May 26, 2026, a three-judge federal panel issued a preliminary injunction blocking Alabama from using its new Republican-drawn congressional map in the November 2026 midterms, finding the lines "intentionally discriminated based on race in violation of the Constitution." The map, enacted after the U.S. Supreme Court's Louisiana v. Callais decision that the state read as loosening race-conscious districting requirements, would have eliminated one of Alabama's two majority-Black districts and positioned the GOP to gain a U.S. House seat. The same panel previously found in 2023 that Alabama's map was intentionally discriminatory against Black voters; Attorney General Steve Marshall said the state would immediately appeal to the Supreme Court.

Part of: 2026 Mid-Decade Congressional Redistricting Wave

Jurisdiction
Alabama
Location
Alabama (statewide; U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama)

Abuses documented

Actors

A three-judge federal panel on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, granted a preliminary injunction barring Alabama from using its newly drawn Republican congressional map in the November 2026 midterm elections, ruling that the lines "intentionally discriminated based on race in violation of the Constitution." The panel found that the Alabama Legislature "well knew what dilutive mechanisms would prevent Black voters in Alabama's Black Belt and Gulf Coast communities from having any opportunity to elect representatives of their choice, and the Legislature employed precisely those mechanisms." The challenged map would have eliminated one of the state's two majority-Black districts, putting Republicans in position to pick up a U.S. House seat.

The Legislature enacted the map after the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which the state read as loosening race-conscious districting requirements. The panel rejected that reading, concluding the Legislature acted with intentional racial discrimination rather than permissible partisan motivation. It is the second time the same panel has found Alabama's congressional districting intentionally discriminatory against Black voters, after a similar 2023 finding. Under the order, Alabama must continue using the court-ordered districts in place for the 2024 elections.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the state would immediately appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on an emergency basis. The case's outcome could reshape Voting Rights Act enforcement nationally and determine whether Alabama's 2026 midterms are run under a map the courts have called unconstitutional (see related entries in this archive's gerrymandering coverage).

Why we recorded this

The Constitution and the Voting Rights Act forbid drawing district lines that intentionally dilute the voting power of Black communities. We record this because a three-judge federal panel found that Alabama enacted a congressional map that intentionally discriminated based on race in violation of the Constitution — eliminating one of the state's two majority-Black districts — the second time the same panel has found the state's districting intentionally discriminatory against Black voters. Drawing lines to erase a community's ability to elect a candidate of choice is gerrymandering that suppresses minority votes, enabled in part by a recent Supreme Court decision narrowing Voting Rights Act protections. This archive records the state's enactment of the map, documented here through the court's findings.

Sources

  1. Federal court blocks Alabama from using GOP-drawn congressional map — NBC News primary accessed May 28, 2026
  2. Federal court blocks Alabama plan for new congressional districts that could help Republicans — CNN primary accessed May 28, 2026
  3. Federal court blocks new Alabama congressional map — Roll Call secondary accessed May 28, 2026
  4. Judges block Alabama redistricting maps that would dilute Black vote in midterms — CNBC secondary accessed May 28, 2026
  5. Federal court blocks new Republican-friendly voting map in Alabama — The Guardian secondary accessed May 28, 2026

See also