Alabama lawmakers refuse to create 2nd majority-Black congressional district

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama lawmakers on Friday proposed a new congressional map that would include a single majority-Black district in the state, a plan that could defy a Supreme Court order to give minority voters a greater voice in elections.

“There’s no opportunity there for anybody other than a white Republican to win that district. It will never, ever elect a Democrat. They won’t elect a Black. They won’t elect a minority,” said Sen. Rodger Smitherman, a Democrat from Birmingham. The debate in Alabama is being closely watched across the nation, and could be mirrored in fights in Louisiana, Georgia, Texas and other states.

“Let’s be clear: The Alabama Legislature believes it is above the law. What we are dealing with is a group of lawmakers who are blatantly disregarding not just the Voting Rights Act, but a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court and a court order from the three-judge district court,” plaintiffs in case said Friday in a statement.

“I have people in my district saying their vote doesn’t count, and I understand why they say that,” Rep. Thomas Jackson, a Thomasville Democrat, said during debate Friday. “The person they want to elect can never get elected because they are in the minority all the time.” “They have pretended as though the court didn’t say what it said,” said Kareem Crayton, senior director for voting and representation at New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice. The Brennan Center filed a brief supporting the plaintiffs before the Supreme Court.

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