Alabama Sets Aug. 11 Primaries for 4 House Seats as Court Clears New Map
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 12
Alabama Sets Aug. 11 Primaries for 4 House Seats as Court Clears New Map
9 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 12
Gov. Kay Ivey ordered special House primaries for Aug. 11 in four Alabama districts, even as the state keeps its regular primary schedule next week for other federal, state and local races.
The move followed a Supreme Court ruling Monday that removed a key obstacle to using a revised congressional map ahead of the midterms, reopening redistricting despite Alabama's prior bar on mid-decade changes before 2030.
The four affected districts include Alabama's two majority-Black seats and two neighboring Republican-held districts; if a lower court approves the map, Republicans could gain a strong chance to flip Rep. Shomari Figures's seat.
A voter group has already asked a federal court to keep the current map, arguing the redraw would dilute Black voting power after a broader Supreme Court decision in late April weakened Voting Rights Act protections.
Alabama's action extends a wider Southern redistricting push: Louisiana delayed House primaries to redraw its map, and Tennessee Republicans adopted a plan splitting the state's lone majority-Black district.
How will Alabama's special election navigate the legal battles and voter confusion over its new congressional map?
With new legal hurdles, what tools remain for communities to challenge electoral maps they believe are unfair?
What does the Supreme Court's new 'intent' standard mean for the future of voting rights litigation nationwide?
Alabama’s 2026 Election Overhauled After Supreme Court Narrows Voting Rights Act: National Redistricting and Minority Impact
Overview
On May 11, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a major ruling that immediately changed Alabama’s congressional redistricting by vacating lower court decisions and allowing the state to reinstate a Republican-backed map with only one majority-Black district. This decision followed a late April Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which declared Louisiana’s map an unconstitutional racial gerrymander and weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by limiting its use in redistricting disputes. The Supreme Court’s actions revealed a sharp ideological split among the justices and set a new legal standard for how race can be considered in drawing electoral maps.