Federal judges try keeping race-based congressional maps alive despite Supreme Court ruling

A federal panel on Tuesday blocked Alabama Republicans’ House map, ruling that the Supreme Court’s recent landmark decision limiting the Voting Rights Act does not affect their conclusion that the map was intentionally discriminatory against black voters.

In a ruling issued on Tuesday, the three-judge federal panel directed Alabama to continue using the court-drawn “Special Master” congressional map for November’s midterms. The panel wrote in the ruling that the “purpose” of the state’s plan to use a new 2023 congressional map “was to distribute” black voters “across districts to dilute their votes, at least in part because they are Black.”

After the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act decision in April 2026, Alabama moved to reinstate a 2023 congressional map — containing just one Democratic-leaning district — that had previously been struck down in court, Politico reported.

“Ultimately, we cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by intentional race-based discrimination,” according to the ruling. “And under the unusual circumstances of this case, we conclude that a limited order requiring the Secretary to continue using this Court’s race-blind map will not disrupt Alabama’s elections (all candidates ran under the race-blind map until fifteen days ago, and all voters remain districted under the race-blind map in electoral computer systems).”

“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,” the ruling says. “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.”

However, Alabama could still appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Associated Press reported.

On May 11, the Supreme Court cleared the way for Alabama to proceed with a congressional map that a lower court had previously blocked for allegedly violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination in voting, according to SCOTUSblog.

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