The U.S. Supreme Court’s order allowing Alabama to use a congressional mapThese are the words of critics disadvantages Black votersHas voting rights advocates worried — and understandably so.
The stay, which was issued Feb. 7, 2022 on the surface, is in Merrill v. MilliganIt was procedural. The justices stopped the proceeding in a 5-4 vote. district court’s injunctionThat had prohibited Alabama from using a newly drawn map in the 2022 elections. The Supreme Court will hear the entire case in its next term, which begins in the fall. ruling due by the end of June 2023 — after this year’s midterm elections.
Had it stood, the district court’s injunction would have required Alabama to redraw congressional districtsBlack voters will be represented more in the next election Instead, Black voters — more than a quarter of Alabama’s electorate — will be the majority in just one of seven districts.
The Supreme Court’s order could have a significant, substantive effect on the 2022 midterm elections — and not just in Alabama. The Supreme Court has allowed the state to use a voter map it adopted in late 2021, which a court ruled illegal soon after passage. This sends a signal to other states about how little review they have had to address any potential problems with their maps.
Expanding Purcell
The justices’ decision rests on the Purcell principle — a rule the Supreme Court created in 2006 when vacating a Court of Appeals decision to block Arizona’s voter ID law a month before the upcoming general election.
They ruled in the case Purcell v. GonzalezJustices ruled that federal courts should not interfere in state election processes near a general election. Doing so would confuse voters, and put unnecessary burden on election officials.
The Purcell rule’s scope appears to be significantly extended by the Supreme Court’s Merrill decision.
Merrill’s ruling does not seem to follow Purcell. The district court’s injunction in Merrill was the result of a full review of Alabama’s congressional redistricting plan. Before reaching its decision, the district court heard seven days worth of testimony and listened to a lot of briefings.
At the conclusion of the case — handled at warp speed for a federal court — the district court wrote an opinion of more than 200 pages explaining in detail the law and facts underlying its decision.
Moreover, the injunction against Alabama’s redistricting plan was issued on Jan. 24, 2022 — more than nine months before voting in Alabama’s general election ends on Nov. 8, 2022.
In contrast, the Court of Appeals in Purcell had enjoined the use of the Arizona voter ID law without explanation mere weeks before that year’s general election.
Novel Reading of The Voting Rights Act
This apparent expansion of Purcell’s principle is more than a technical modification. It could have a tangible effect on the elections in Alabama.
The case centers around a dispute about whether Alabama should redraw its congressional district to create a second seat where Black voters are the majority. One such district is shown on the current map.
That issue touches the heart and soul of the 1965’s Voting Rights Act and could affect Black Alabamians’ ability to elect their representatives of choice.
In Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s concurrence with the court’s orderJustice Samuel Alito was also present. He suggested that the Court lift the injunction preventing Alabama from using its maps. This is partly due to the fact that the plaintiffs are not likely to win the underlying case.
Justice John Roberts dissented from the stayIt is worth noting that the district court appears as though it applied the law correctly and left no room for the Supreme Court’s correction.
Meanwhile, Justice Elena Kagan’s dissent — which was joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor — argued the underlying merits in the challenge to Alabama appear so clear that the Court’s majority would need to employ a novel reading of the Voting Rights Act to make the case appear debatable.
Tilting elections
The court’s order in Merrill suggests that the window for deciding the legality of redistricting measures before the 2022 elections has now closed.
That likely sends a message to all states — those that have not finished redistricting and those that may wish to revise their redistricted maps — that they can pass whatever maps they want, possibly tilting the 2022 congressional election, without fear of being overruled in federal court.
This article is republished from The Conversationunder Creative Commons license Read the original article.
