Attorney General Steve Marshall files emergency motion to change state senate district lines
Photo from the Office of Attorney General Steve Marshall
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) – Attorney General Steve Marshall has filed an emergency motion with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to allow the state to possibly change its state senate districts.
Marshall has asked the court to either vacate or stay the court injunctions blocking the state from using the state senate district map that was approved in 2021, before the federal courts changed the maps for the state senate and the U.S. House of Representatives to give Black voters a greater chance at representation.
Marshall has asked for a decision by May 8, before Alabama’s May 19 primaries.
The motion argues that last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais shows that Alabama shouldn’t be held to the court-drawn districts for state senate, which affect both Democrat Kirk Hatcher and Republican Will Barfoot in our area. The districts that the courts changed were districts 25 and 26.
“Time is of the essence. We immediately filed a motion with the Circuit Court, urging a decision by May 8, because Alabamians deserve to vote using their own maps in our upcoming primary. The South has changed, and the courts have acknowledged as much. We cannot be held indefinitely to a framework rooted in 1965. With the Callais decision now in place, we are confident our race-neutral districts can serve as the foundation for all future redistricting,” Marshall said.
