The state of Alabama is gearing up for a federal trial on November 12, concerning the Senate district maps redrawn by the Legislature in 2021. The lawsuit argues that the Senate districts in Montgomery and Huntsville dilute Black voting power, which would be a violation of Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
“We’ll prove at trial that the 2021 plan that the Legislature adopted for the Senate map does, in fact, dilute Black votes in those two areas,” said Jess Unger, senior staff attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), one of the plaintiffs involved, speaking to Alabama Daily News.
Initially, the lawsuit alleged that nearly 25% of Alabama Senate and House districts had been racially gerrymandered following the 2020 census redistricting. However, by the end of last year, the scope of the case was narrowed down.
