Alabama must move quickly to draw new congressional districts

By KIM CHANDLER
Associated Press

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama will have to move quickly to comply with a court order to draw congressional districts for the 2024 elections and judges indicated Friday that they will give legislators until July 21 to adopt a new map. The U.S. Supreme Court last week affirmed a lower court ruling finding Alabama likely violated the Voting Rights Act. That finding was because Alabama’s congressional map had only one majority Black district out of seven in a state where more than one in four residents is Black. The state must now draw a new map with what’s been called an “opportunity district” where Black voters comprise a majority, or close to it, in a second district.