Black voting power gets boost in Alabama as new US House districts chosen by federal judges

By KIM CHANDLER
Associated Press

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Federal judges have selected new congressional lines for Alabama ensuring a second district where Black voters comprise a substantial portion of the electorate. The judges ordered the state to use the new lines in the 2024 elections. The three-judge panel stepped in to oversee the drawing of a new map after ruling that Alabama lawmakers flouted their instruction to fix a Voting Rights Act violation and create a second majority-Black district or something “quite close to it.” With the new map, Black voters would go from comprising less than one-third of the voting-age population to nearly 50%.