Alabama lawmakers Friday refused to create a second majority — a black congressional district, a move that could defy a recent U.S. Supreme Court order to give minority voters a bigger voice in elections and trigger a renewed battle for the state’s political map.

The legislation now goes to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who is expected to sign it.

Lawmakers in the Republican-dominated House and Senate instead approved a plan that would raise the percentage of black voters from about 31% to 40% in the state’s 2nd district. A conference committee proposed the map as a compromise between plans with percentages of 42% and 38%, respectively, for southeastern Alabama.

Republicans argued that the proposal is consistent with a court order to create a district where black voters can influence the outcome of congressional elections. But black lawmakers said the new map appealed to the state’s Jim Crow history of unfairly treating black voters and ignored a directive from a three-judge panel to create a second-majority black district or something close to it, giving black voters a chance to elect a representative of their choice.

There’s no chance there for anyone but a white Republican to win that district. It will never elect a Democrat. They won’t choose black. “They’re not going to elect a minority,” said Sen. Rodger Smitherman, a Democrat from Birmingham.

Republicans have been reluctant to create a Democratic-oriented district, taking a bet that the panel will accept their proposal or that the state will prevail in a second round of appeals. Republicans argued that the map meets the courts’ guideline and draws compact districts that meet redistribution guidelines.

We’ve also been mindful of not racially gerrymandering our cards,” said House Speaker Pro Tempore Chris Pringle.

The debate in Alabama is being closely watched across the country and can be reflected in fighting in Louisiana, Georgia, Texas and other states.

The three-judge panel ruled in 2022 that the current legislative map likely violates the federal voting rights law, saying that each map must contain two districts where black voters are either “a majority of voting age” or something close to it. The Supreme Court upheld that decision.

With the plan passed, the battle will soon shift back to federal court. The plaintiffs who won the Supreme Court case have vowed to challenge the proposal if it passes.

Let’s be clear: the Alabama legislature believes it is above the law. What we are dealing with is a group of lawmakers blatantly flouting not only the Voting Rights Act, but also a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court and an injunction from the three-judge district court, plaintiffs in the case said in a statement Friday.

Approval of the plan will almost certainly trigger a renewed legal battle over whether Alabama’s congressional districts comply with federal law and provide a fair opportunity for black voters and candidates in a political landscape dominated by white Republicans. Smitherman said Republicans appear to be hoping one of the justices will flip the script and rule for the state

round two round 2

.

Black Alabama lawmakers say it’s crucial their voters have a better chance of making their choices.

I have people in my district who say their vote doesn’t count, and I understand why they say that, Rep. Thomas Jackson, a Democrat from Thomasville, said during Friday’s debate. The person they want to choose can never be chosen because they are always outnumbered.

An analysis by the Associated Press, using redistribution software, shows that the 2nd district proposed Friday voted largely for Republicans in recent statewide elections. Donald Trump won the district by nearly 10 percentage points in his 2020 re-election bid.

Experts have said the GOP proposals fall short of what the Supreme Court said last month is necessary.

They pretended the court didn’t say what they said, said Kareem Crayton, senior director for voting and representation at New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice. The Brennan Center filed summary judgment in support of the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court.

Those who study redistricting say that’s just not enough given how sharply divided Alabama voters are along racial lines. White people tend to vote Republicans and black people tend to vote Democrats. That division is also reflected among elected officials. There are 33 black legislators in the Alabama legislature with 140 seats. All but one are Democrats.

Republican lawmakers hope to bring the problems of compact districts and united communities to the courtroom’s attention. They hope for a second trial, or even another visit to the Supreme Court, so they don’t have to create a map where a second of Alabama’s seven congressional districts is given to a Democrat.

Crayton was skeptical that the Supreme Court would immediately reverse its ruling, saying federal courts disregard compactness and community preservation in redistricting.

It can’t come to the fore on matters enshrined in federal law,” said Crayton, who called those arguments silly.