By Joseph Ax
May 26 (Reuters) – A panel of three U.S. judges on Tuesday blocked Alabama from using a congressional map that would eliminate one of the state’s two majority-Black U.S. House districts, a setback for Republican efforts to oust a Democratic incumbent in November’s midterm elections.
In a 79-page ruling, the judges said the Republican-backed map intentionally discriminated against Black voters and could not be used for the 2026 elections.
Republican officials in Alabama are expected to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Republican governor, Kay Ivey, previously postponed to August the primary elections for four U.S. House of Representatives districts that were redrawn as part of the map.
The ruling was the latest development in a new and frenzied round of congressional redistricting that has unfolded across the South, as Republican-led states have scrambled to take advantage of a U.S. Supreme Court decision in April that severely weakened the Voting Rights Act.
Tennessee and Louisiana have each dismantled a majority-Black U.S. House seat, while South Carolina’s Senate is poised on Tuesday to approve a plan that would take apart the district of U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn, a Black Democrat who has held the seat since 1993.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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