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A three-judge panel on Tuesday morning blocked Alabama from using a 2023 congressional map the panel ruled racially discriminatory and ordered the state to use a remedial map aimed at giving Black Alabamians a chance to elect their preferred leaders.
The order comes almost a month after the U.S. Supreme Court substantially weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in a case known as Louisiana v. Callais, and weeks after Gov. Kay Ivey called a special session in which Republican lawmakers set special primaries for August in the expectation that the state would be allowed to use the 2023 map, which would likely cost Democrats a seat in Alabama’s U.S. House delegation.
The panel was ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court to reevaluate its ruling on the map in light of its April ruling. But at a hearing on Friday, the panel expressed skepticism toward the state’s argument on that the 2023 map was drawn with partisan intent, not to dilute Black voters. The same three-judge panel previously found that the map was intentionally racially discriminatory and issued a “race-blind” map that led to the election of U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, of the 2nd Congressional District.
The state filed a notice of appeal Tuesday morning, .
“This is a very fluid situation, and I will do my best to keep the people of Alabama apprised of our efforts,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement Tueday. “Know this — in my mind, it is not a matter of whether we win this case, only when,” he said.
Ivey said in a statement Tuesday morning that she fully supports Marshall’s appeal to the Supreme Court.
“I remain hopeful they will allow Alabama to move forward with our August 11 Special Primary Election. I will continue to say: Alabama knows our state, our people and our districts best,” she said.
Secretary of State Wes Allen said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that he “strongly disagree(s) with the lower Court’s decision, and I look forward to appealing it to the United States Supreme Court as soon as possible.”
Allen appealed the preliminary injunction to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday morning, .
JaTaune Bosby Gilchrist, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama, said in a statement Tuesday morning that they will continue to fight for fair representation through the state’s appeal.
“While we fully anticipate the State will continue to fight to use its racist maps to advance their partisan agenda, we will vigorously defend the right of Alabamians to elect representatives of their choosing,” Gilchrist said.
The plaintiffs in the case said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that the state has sown confusion in its attempt to change maps midway through an election.
“The court saw through Alabama’s blatant attempt to reinstate a race-based congressional map that the legislature deliberately enacted to deny Black voters a voice in Congress,” they said. “Rather than accept this reality, state officials have knowingly sown confusion and doubled-down on their attacks on Black voters. The court’s order today to reinstate the Milligan remedial map is a crucial victory for fair representation and brings necessary clarity to the state’s 2026 elections.”
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The judges, U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco, U.S. District Judge Terry Moorer, appointed by President Donald Trump; and U.S. Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, wrote in the 79-page opinion that the state’s argument contradicted its arguments made in 2023, and said that its 2023 map “made it impossible not only to remediate the vote dilution we identified, but also to respect the longstanding community of interest the Legislature identified in Alabama’s Black Belt.”
“These events, along with legislators’ contemporaneous statements about race, support only one inference: the purpose of the 2023 Plan was to distribute Black voters across districts to dilute their votes, at least in part because they are Black,” the panel wrote in the filing. “Counsel argues mightily that the Legislature’s partisan motives drove the creation of the 2023 Plan, but this enormous record contains no evidence of a partisan motive. And the only evidence on the issue cuts against one: Alabama’s legislative leadership testified that overtures from national party leaders did not affect their work.”
It is unclear how the special primary election will proceed. The judges ordered Allen to administer all “remaining events comprising Alabama’s 2026 congressional elections” according to the court-ordered map. That order will expire when the Legislature passes a new district map. The state last year agreed to use the current remedial map until 2030.
Messages seeking comment with the 21 qualified candidates for the special primary election, which is set for Aug. 11, were left Tuesday morning.
In a post on social media Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, whose 2nd congressional district is most likely to be targeted, wrote that the decision is “a significant step in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go before this fight is settled.”
U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Selma, of the 7th Congressional District, said in a statement posted to social media that the court prevented Alabama Republicans from using tactics to racially discriminate against Black voters.
“Today, the court made clear that those tactics will not stand,” she wrote. “Black voters in Alabama cannot and will not be silenced.”
Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, called the judges “activists” and accused them of “handing Democrats congressional victories in the courtroom” in a social media post.
“This is nothing more than a politically motivated attempt to weaponize the judicial system for partisan gain, and Alabama has every intention of taking this to the Supreme Court and fighting back,” he wrote.
Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, said in a statement Tuesday morning that the order only applies to the 2026 midterm elections, and the fight for fair representation is not over.
“Let this moment be a powerful call to action to ensure that we do everything possible to get out the vote and drive historic turnout at the polls,” he said. “Like I’ve said, ‘If your vote didn’t matter, they wouldn’t be trying so hard to take it from you.’’’
This story was updated at 10:03 a.m. to include a statement from U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, on the ruling. It was later updated at 12:02 p.m. to include statements from ACLU, Gov. Kay Ivey and Steve Marshall. It was later updated at 12:08 p.m. to include a statement from U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Selma; and at 12:11 p.m. to include a statement from Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville. It was later updated at 12:20 p.m. to include statements from Secretary of State Wes Allen, House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, and the Milligan plaintiffs. It was later updated at 12:33 p.m. to include that Allen appealed the injunction to the Supreme Court on Tuesday morning.
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This is a breaking news story and will be updated.