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

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 The Standing's gerrymandering coverage).