For Immediate Release:
May 5, 2026
For press inquiries only, contact:
Amanda Priest (334) 322-5694
William Califf (334) 604-3230
(Montgomery, Ala.) – Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall today filed an emergency motion with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama asking the federal court to lift injunctions blocking Alabama from using its own congressional district map, following a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week that significantly changed the legal standards governing voting rights redistricting claims.
In that ruling, the Supreme Court held that states have authority to draw district lines based on political and traditional geographic considerations, and that challengers to a state’s map must demonstrate that race, not partisan politics, drove the state’s decisions. The Court held that only pointing to racially polarized voting patterns is not enough to prove a violation without also showing that the voting patterns could not be explained by party affiliation.
“The Supreme Court has confirmed that the claims that led to the injunctions against Alabama’s map are no longer viable,” Attorney General Marshall said. “We are asking the court to lift those injunctions so that Alabama can conduct its congressional elections using the map its legislature lawfully enacted.”
Today’s motion is the latest in a series of actions the Attorney General has taken since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. On April 30, Marshall filed emergency motions directly with the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to vacate the same congressional map injunctions and remand the cases. On May 4, he filed a separate emergency motion with the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to lift injunctions on an entirely different set of maps, Alabama’s state Senate districts. Today’s filing targets the original district court that issued the congressional map injunctions, asking that court to stay its own orders while the appeals proceed.
Governor Kay Ivey has called the Alabama Legislature into a special session this week to prepare for the possibility that elections may proceed under the state’s own map. The Attorney General has asked the court to rule no later than 3:00 p.m. tomorrow, May 6, to give the state adequate time to make necessary preparations before the primary.
“Alabama deserves the same opportunity as every other state to conduct its elections in an orderly manner using a map drawn by its own legislature,” Attorney General Marshall said. “I will continue to do everything in my power to make that a reality. We are confident the court will recognize that last week’s Supreme Court decision requires a fresh look at these injunctions.”
Read the motion here.
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