Key Facts

• The Supreme Court lifted a lower-court order that required Alabama to use a congressional map with two majority-Black districts.
• The new map approved by the Supreme Court only has one majority-Black district and was drawn by Republicans in 2023.
• The court’s decision came less than a week before Alabama’s primary elections were scheduled to start.
• The Purcell principle advises courts not to change voting rules close to an election to avoid confusing voters and causing problems with election management.
• The Purcell principle stems from a 2006 Supreme Court case, Purcell v. Gonzalez, involving last-minute changes to voter ID laws in Arizona.
• Alabama’s maps have been challenged for possibly violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which protects against racial discrimination in voting.
• The Supreme Court’s recent 2024 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais changed how Section 2 is applied to race-based district maps, influencing the Alabama case.
• Some Supreme Court justices, including Justice Sonia Sotomayor, criticized the timing of the decision, warning it could confuse voters just before the election.