The Greene County Democrat

Tag: voting

  • The Supreme Court rejects Trump’s mail voting restrictions for this year’s midterms

    The Supreme Court rejects Trump’s mail voting restrictions for this year’s midterms

    By NPR, All Things Considered

    The Supreme Court has ruled against President Trump, rejecting his efforts to enact new mail-in voting restrictions for the midterm election.

    The ruling released Monday by the high court means the U.S. Postal Service is expected to continue delivering ballots as usual.

    Voting by mail has already begun in states including Alabama, North Carolina and Wisconsin, with more soon to follow — including Western states such as Hawaii, Oregon and Washington, where elections are held primarily or fully with mail ballots.

    Under the still-blocked USPS plan, which followed an executive order by Trump, states would have had to turn over lists of voters’ names and addresses and have certain specific barcodes on ballot envelopes in order to have them delivered by the mailing agency.

    Earlier this month, a federal judge in Boston issued a preliminary injunction against USPS, blocking it from imposing those new ballot requirements on states. The judge found the requirements are likely illegal because the Postal Service has no authority to control mail-in voting. A second federal judge issued another preliminary injunction late Sunday.

    Now, a majority of the Supreme Court decided to keep that injunction in place. The court said the Trump administration was unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge.

    Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote a short concurring opinion, saying “there is at least a fair prospect that the final rule falls within the Postal Service’s statutory authority.” But, he added, “applying the rule in the 2026 elections would be arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act because state and local election officials do not have sufficient time to reasonably implement the rule before the elections.”

    Indeed several Republican state election officials, including from the mostly vote-by-mail state of Utah, signed on to a Supreme Court brief, warning that any attempt to carry out the USPS plan now “will almost certainly lead to mistakes, delays, and confusion for both voters and election officials.”

    Conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented from the order, and would have granted the administration’s request to pause the Boston-based judge’s ruling.

    While the USPS plan remains paused for the midterms, the legal fight will likely continue over how the agency may try to implement it for future federal elections.

    For now, challengers of the proposal are celebrating their victory.

    “Today, the Supreme Court refused to allow the federal government to throw our elections into chaos just weeks before Election Day. The Postal Service exists to deliver Americans’ mail — not to rewrite election rules, demand voters’ personal information, or decide which ballots make it through the system,” Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters, said in a statement.

    “Voters should never have to wonder whether a ballot they legally cast will be counted because the federal government suddenly changed the rules,” said  Letitia James, New York State Attorney General, whose state was among the 24 mainly Democratic-led states that sued alongside Washington, D.C. “We will keep fighting to make sure every eligible ballot is counted come November. Now, I encourage all eligible Americans to get out and vote — and vote early.”

    In a social media post on Tuesday, Trump blasted the Supreme Court’s ruling as “a big loss for Republicans.”

    “These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court, they are merely a shell of their original selves,” added Trump, who nominated Kavanaugh and fellow conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett during his first term.

    Trump praised Alito and Thomas as “legends” for disagreeing with the court’s majority ruling.

    The president also made a baseless claim that the USPS plan was a “solution to our totally CORRUPT and out of control Mail-In voting ‘disaster.’ “

    Trump has previously said he issued the call for USPS to change its rule for mail ballots as a way to stop illegal voting by non-U.S. citizens, a problem that many studies and audits show is extremely uncommon. For this legal fight over the USPS plan, the administration’s lawyers have provided the courts with no evidence of mail-voting fraud.

    Trump has long been a vocal critic of the way about one-third of voters cast ballots in the last two federal elections. In 2024, the share of voters who reported casting ballots by mail was higher among Democrats (37%) than Republicans (24%), according to a national survey by the MIT Election Data and Science Lab.

    In a social media post last year, Trump said he is “going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS” and claimed that “ELECTIONS CAN NEVER BE HONEST WITH MAIL IN BALLOTS/VOTING.”

    This year, Trump himself voted by mail in Florida

  • Alabama New South Coalition to hold Fall Convention in Montgomery on Saturday, September 26, 2026

    Alabama New South Coalition to hold Fall Convention in Montgomery on Saturday, September 26, 2026

    The Alabama New South Coalition (ANSC) will hold its  43rd Fall Convention on Saturday, September 26, 2026, at the RSA Activity Center, at 201 Dexter Avenue in Montgomery, Alabama, from 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM. Registration is $50 for members and non-members.

    The theme of the meeting is “ Building Bridges, Not Walls, Our Path to Freedom”. There will be workshops, final endorsement of candidates and amendments to be on the November 3, General Election ballot, election of ANSC state officers and other important business for the statewide Black and progressive voters’ organization.

    The luncheon speaker is slated to be the Honorable Kristen Clarke, former Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, under President Obama, and currently General Counsel for the NAACP. She is a great speaker and will talk about the attacks on voting rights and what the response of organizations like ANSC and grassroots people should be to these attacks.

    There will be a workshop on the importance of voting, registering those over 18 that will be eligible to vote November 3, encouraging the participation of youth in voting and increasing turnout to show the power of the Black vote in statewide, Congressional and multi-county races.

    Hank Sanders, President Emeritus of ANSC said, “These are critical times for our country, our state and our Alabama New South Coalition. We are all working on making our country and our state better places to live, despite challenges from the President and Congress.

    We are also working to make our ANSC stronger, so it will help to make our country and state stronger. We invite you and need you to come and participate in this convention. We need you to encourage others in your community and county to attend. A strong Alabama New South Coalition is absolutely necessary to deal with these terrible and dangerous times.”

    Sylvia Fitts, ANSC Board Chair said, “ We must remember that every issue is a voting issue. Bring your local issues and concerns to this convention so ANSC can plan to work on them before and continuing after November 3rd.”

    Garria Spencer, Greene County ANSC Chapter President announced that the local chapter would be meeting on Thursday, September 17 at 5:00 PM, at Sandra Walkers office, to prepare for the Fall Convention and select delegates to the convention.

    If you need additional information on the ANSC Fall Convention, contact Shelley Fearson, State Coordinator at 334-262-0932.

  • Sewell blasts SCOTUS ruling clearing path for mail-in voting reforms

    Sewell blasts SCOTUS ruling clearing path for mail-in voting reforms

    By Staff, Alabama Political Reporter

    U.S. Representative Terri Sewell, D-Alabama, spoke out  last Tuesday against a U.S. Supreme Court decision that opened a path for mail-in voting restrictions sought by the Trump administration to take effect ahead of the November midterm elections.

    The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Monday that 23 states and the District of Columbia lacked standing to challenge President Donald Trump’s executive order. The court did not rule on the legality of the order itself. 

    The order directs the Department of Homeland Security to create state-by-state lists of U.S. citizens and directs federal authorities to prioritize investigations and prosecutions involving election officials who provide federal ballots to people who are not eligible to vote. It also directs the U.S. Postal Service to implement new requirements for mail-in ballots, including limiting delivery to voters included on state-submitted lists. 

    States challenging the order argued that the Constitution gives states and Congress authority over federal elections and that the president’s directives could disrupt election administration. Litigation over the order remains ongoing, and lower-court rulings could still affect whether its provisions take effect before the November election

    Sewell, in a Tuesday written statement, argued that the executive order is an attempt by the Trump administration to restrict legal avenues for voting.

    “President Trump is terrified of losing at the ballot box in November. He knows his policies are raising costs and hurting families, so instead of changing course, he is trying to change the rules to make it harder for Americans to vote,” Sewell said.

    “It is shameful that the Supreme Court would allow these restrictions to proceed—especially when we know that voting by mail is safe, secure, and used by millions of Americans, including President Trump himself,” Sewell said. “With just weeks left until the midterm elections, this decision will cause chaos and confusion for voters across the nation.”

    Sewell vowed to continue opposing Trump administration efforts to restrict mail-in voting. “As a daughter of Selma and the top Democrat on the Elections Subcommittee, I will not stand for these attacks on the ballot,” Sewell said. “I will keep fighting to protect the right to vote and ensure every eligible American can make their voice heard.”

    The Supreme Court’s decision does not immediately change voting procedures nationwide. The administration and states remain engaged in litigation over implementation of the executive order, including Postal Service rules governing mail ballots.

    Another lawsuit was filed by state Attorney Generals and others, immediately after the Supreme Court’s decision, since the U. S. Postal Service has now released its notice of changes in handling mail-in ballots, including their review against lists provided by the Federal government.

    The executive order has also drawn opposition from American Postal Workers Union President Jonathan Smith, who has described the administration’s approach as an effort to politicize the Postal Service.

    In July, a group of Republican attorneys general led by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall issued a letter supporting the administration’s proposed Postal Service rules, arguing they would “help states provide Americans with confidence in our system.”

  • Black Voters Should Question Trump’s Voter Fraud Claims

    Black Voters Should Question Trump’s Voter Fraud Claims

    By Antjuan Seawright, The Root

    Have you ever noticed that every time voters of color stand up and start leading the charge for change against this MAGA failure, President Trump finds a new and novel way to start ranting and raving about so-called stolen elections, phantom illegal voters and his vision for “ballot security.”

    Does that feel like a coincidence to anyone? It shouldn’t.

    ​It’s the same old anti-democracy song and dance that we’ve seen time and time again, and it was on full display during his July 16 speech. It was the old soft shoe routine he’s so fond of, where every election he wins was legitimate, and every one he loses is rigged.

    It’s the old “heads I win, tails you lose” situation, and he’s trying to use it to position himself for the November midterms, because he’s going to lose.

    ​Look, we already know that Trump is a liar. He lied about his relationships, he lied about Project 2025, he lied about his plans to “fix healthcare,” “end inflation,” and all the rest. He lies about ICE, Iran, his corrupt White House and gas prices. He even lies about crowd size.

    ​But while so many in the MAGA party bend over backwards to excuse and normalize those lies, I keep remembering how my grandmother used to warn me that anyone who’s willing to lie to you will also happily steal from you.

    ​Scratch a liar and find a thief.

    ​Donald Trump is a liar, make no mistake. He’s been lying to you, and he’s doing his level best to steal the upcoming midterms from you because he can’t stand the fact that Black folks are willing to stand up to him.

    He’s lying to you and trying to steal this election from you by racial gerrymandering and dismantling Black districts, mobilizing ICE agents or our own military to “oversee” in-person voting and ballot counting, illegally declaring a ban on mail-in voting and more.

    ​But fear and suppression are known strategies. That’s why we’ve already seen Voter ID, voter roll purges and the endless restrictions passed by GOP legislatures all across this country. That’s why we had poll taxes, literacy tests, Jim Crow and the KKK showing up at your house if you had the audacity to cast a ballot.

    ​We know that song pretty well by now because, as much as Republicans like to talk about loving America, it’s only when they’re winning. Heaven help them if you manage to beat them. Then all that love goes out the window.

    ​Scratch a liar and find a thief.

    ​But there is good news because, for all their bluster, we have defeated this strategy before and we will beat it again this November because, for Black folks in America, this isn’t a game. We’re casting a survival vote.

    However, if we want to win, we must be of one accord.

    ​Look, don’t get me wrong. Lots of people have issues with the Democratic Party and its leadership. I get that, and I hear you. But the reality is that the disagreements we may have within our party simply don’t compare to what we’re facing on the outside.

    As much as I believe that most decisions fall somewhere on the spectrum, this one is a binary vote because either you’re voting for working folks or you’re not. Either you want ICE to be held accountable for grabbing people off the street, locking away defenseless children and gunning down American citizens, or you think that’s okay. Either you’re voting to end this affordability crisis, or you’re endorsing the Big Ugly Bill with the largest cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in American history. Either you want quality healthcare to be affordable and accessible to all, agree that a woman should have control over her own body and what the MAGA mob says shouldn’t matter more than her doctor, believe that no one is above the law and that democracy isn’t just a stepping stone to dictatorship, or you don’t.

    ​Either you believe every American has the right to vote or you don’t because, let’s be honest, Donald Trump is afraid of what happens if you take that to heart. That’s what his speech was all about. Donald Trump is afraid because he knows that if you can vote…if you do vote…and if you speak with one united voice, then his day is done.

    ​He’s afraid because he knows that, when you scratch a liar, you find a thief.

    Read the original article here.

    Featured image: A millennial black man and woman voting at a voting booth in an election (iStock)

  • Newswire: OP-ED: 250 Years of America – Progress on the Promise?

    Newswire: OP-ED: 250 Years of America – Progress on the Promise?

    By Delegate N. Scott Phillips, BlackPressUSA

    Let’s be clear, African Americans have done our part, we have fought in every war, built businesses, advanced science, created culture, and strengthened our democracy, often while being denied its full benefits. There has been undeniable progress, but significant challenges still remain.

    As Chairman of the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus, I believe this moment calls for our collective vigilance and less complacency. The distance between our founding ideals and our lived reality has narrowed since the civil rights movement, but it has not disappeared. Equity in economic and educational opportunity, access to affordable housing, fair protection under the law, and competent political representation remain unfinished business.

    Maryland has a lot to be proud of when it comes to the political ascension of African Americans in our state. None but the Old Line State can boast that Blacks serve as Governor, Attorney General, State Treasurer, US Senator, Mayors, and County Executives of over 62% of Maryland’s population and a legislative Black Caucus that comprises 29% of the legislature, the largest percentage in the nation. We have made meaningful investments in education, entrepreneurship, criminal justice reform, and community development. 

    The timing of this year’s Independence Day reflection is especially significant as Maryland prepares for Governor Moore to convene a special legislative session on congressional redistricting. Redistricting is far more than drawing lines on a map. It determines whose communities remain whole, and whose interests are represented in the halls of power.

    The Maryland Legislative Black Caucus believes that we have an obligation to ensure that African American voting strength is not diluted and that the hard-fought gains secured through generations of sacrifice are preserved. Fair representation is not about guaranteeing outcomes; it is about guaranteeing opportunity. Every Marylander deserves an equal voice in choosing those who represent them.

    The Maryland Legislative Black Caucus will continue to advocate for policies that expand opportunity, protect civil rights, and strengthen our democracy. We recognize that representation is only the beginning. True progress will be evident in positive measurable outcomes in economic mobility, educational achievement, better public safety, and fair access to justice for every Marylander.

    As we gather with family and friends this Fourth of July, let us celebrate how far America has come but never denying how far we still must go. Patriotism is not measured solely by our willingness to celebrate our nation’s achievements, but also by our commitment to perfecting our imperfect union.

    That is the work of the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus and all people of good conscience who lead while serving as educators, mavens of business and industry, faith leaders and community activists; and this task before us cannot be lost amid celebratory parades, commemorative speeches and patriotic celebrations from the city to the shore. It requires us to redouble our persistence, and principled leadership in the pursuit of America’s promise.

    Delegate N. Scott Phillips is the Chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland.

    Read the original article here

    Featured Image: Delegate N. Scott Phillips is the Chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland.

  • Newswire: Advocates Say SCOTUS Voting Rights Decision Has Already Started to Reshape Black Political Power

    Newswire: Advocates Say SCOTUS Voting Rights Decision Has Already Started to Reshape Black Political Power

    By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

    U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) whose district spans parts of Los Angeles County, joined fellow CBC member U.S. Rep. Troy Carter (D-LA-2) for a May 21 briefing with Black media outlets in California. 

    The lawmakers highlighted what they describe as a mounting threat to Black political representation resulting from an April 29 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened key protections under the federal Voting Rights Act.  

    Kamlager-Dove and Carter warned that the decision, which narrowed the role of race in redistricting, is already reshaping congressional districts across the South and undermining Black voters’ ability to elect candidates of their choice. 

    “While I support building coalitions, we have to make sure that as a Black community we are not yielding our power,” she added.

    Calling the fight “not unique to the South,” Carter urged Black communities nationwide to recognize the broader implications of the legal and political battles unfolding in Southern legislatures and courtrooms. 

     

    The Supreme Court ruling centers on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the portion of the law that prohibits voting systems or district maps that dilute the voting strength of racial minorities. For decades, Section 2 allowed civil rights groups to challenge district maps that weakened Black political representation even when lawmakers did not openly state discriminatory intent.

    Now, advocates fear that standard has fundamentally changed. 

    The implications could stretch far beyond congressional elections, Brown said.  

     

    Section 2 protections have historically applied not only to U.S. House districts, but also to state legislatures, school boards, county commissions, judgeships, and local governing bodies. Voting rights advocates warn that weakening those protections could reshape political representation throughout the South, particularly in states with large Black populations. 

    “This is not just a Southern issue,” said Amir Badat, manager of Black Voters on the Rise and voting special counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. 

    Badat described the current moment as part of a much longer historical pattern. 

    “This is the same move,” Badat said. 

     

    Advocates also emphasized that the consequences of weakened voting protections extend into everyday life. 

    Local elected offices such as school boards, city councils, county commissions, and judgeships often determine funding priorities, public safety policy, education standards, and infrastructure investments. 

    “These are not abstract numbers,” Badat said. “These have real political consequences and policy consequences on people’s day-to-day lives.”

    Featured image: Black voter (Shutterstock / NNPA)

  • Newswire: In the Wake of Black Exhaustion, the South is Still Fighting for Black Political Power

    Newswire: In the Wake of Black Exhaustion, the South is Still Fighting for Black Political Power

    by Waikinya J.S. Clanton, The Root

    I am tired. I want to say that plainly — not as an admission of defeat, but as an act of radical honesty that Black organizers in the Deep South rarely allow themselves in public.

    I am tired, and I am tired of being tired. (Shout out to Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer.) Tired of fighting for the same thing: respect for my humanity.

    When Nina Simone wrote “Mississippi Goddamn,” she did not do so as a song of surrender. She wrote it as a bellow born from exhaustion and love — the kind that only comes when you don’t have clean water but still find yourself at the door of the courthouse demanding justice. That’s where we are right now. That’s where we have always been.

    And then the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Louisiana v. Callais.

    In a 6-3 ruling, six people decided the fate of millions — striking down Louisiana’s congressional map and stripping the state of its second majority-Black district. Justice Kagan, in dissent, said plainly what the rest of us were already thinking: this ruling renders Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act “all but a dead letter.”

    Let me translate that for the people in Canton, Mississippi, where I’m from. Section 2 was our last legal line of protection against Jim Crow laws designed to silence our voices, specifically the provision that said you cannot draw maps designed to drown out Black votes. After the Court gutted preclearance in Shelby County v. Holderin 2013, Section 2 was one of the last remaining legal tools. Now the Court has dulled that blade to near uselessness.

    This is not abstract. This is not a legal footnote. This is about who sits at the table when they decide what your children’s schools look like, what your water pipes are made of, and whether your neighborhood gets a hospital or a highway. In Mississippi — where Black people make up nearly 38 percent of the population — fair maps aren’t a nicety. They are the difference between representation and erasure.

    When this decision came down, my plane had just touched the tarmac in Boston, and my phone erupted. Partners. Community members. Elected officials. Faith leaders. All are asking the same thing: What do we do now?

    What we do is what Black Mississippians have always done. We fight.

    That’s why THOUSANDS came together this week to Rally for Our Rights. These are our rights; we demand representation, and we will be heard.

    History will NOT repeat itself. We won’t let it.

    Now, I hear you. Black exhaustion is real. It is the compound weight of watching systems that were designed to harm us, functioning exactly as they were designed to. It is registering voters and knocking on doors, only to have six justices in Washington move the goalpost one more time. I carry that exhaustion, too.

    But I am a sixth-generation Mississippian. I carry the legacy of fighting for freedom. My great-great-great-grandfather, John “Booth” Boose, was a soldier in the 52nd Colored Infantry of the Union Army. The same battalion that first fought and won against the Confederacy.

    He didn’t just survive for freedom — he fought for it. That is the legacy I now hold and has become my obligation.

    The battle for Black political power in the South is not a regional story. It is the American story. The maps drawn here shape who controls Congress, who controls policy, and who controls the narrative about what this country is willing to be.

    To all those from across the state who converged in Jackson this week, this is only the beginning. There will be many more moments when we will need you to show up and show out again. In the meantime, check your voter registration and VOTE. Lines can only erase our power if we allow them to.

    If you are outside of Mississippi, understand what is at stake. Tell your elected officials that gutting Section 2 cannot stand without a Congressional response. Do not let the South be sacrificed for the comfort of inaction.

    We are exhausted — but we are not giving up, and neither should you.

    We are not done yet. In fact, we’re just getting started.

    Waikinya J.S. Clanton is the Mississippi State Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center

    Featured image credentials: No Kings Protest advocate

  • Newswire: Court Rejects Alabama House Map, Calling It Unfair to Black Voters

    Newswire: Court Rejects Alabama House Map, Calling It Unfair to Black Voters

    by Emily Cochrane and Abbie VanSickle, The New York Times

    A panel of federal judges on Tuesday rejected Alabama’s effort to use a new voting map for the November midterm elections, saying that the districts discriminated against Black people and could not be used so shortly before a vote.

    Alabama’s attorney general, Steve Marshall, said he would immediately appeal to the Supreme Court, which last month ruled that a Louisiana congressional map drawn to create two majority-Black House districts was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, has already set special primaries in August in four House districts that would be affected by her state’s new congressional map.

    The ruling further confuses the electoral landscape across the South, as Republican-led legislatures have raced to implement new district lines after the Supreme Court narrowed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It also demonstrates how the ruling from the nation’s highest court has further muddled how lower courts interpret the landmark civil rights law.

    If the case makes it to the Supreme Court, it will be the first major test of the high court’s new standard for challenging congressional maps. The lower court judges made clear that they had reviewed the arguments through the lens of the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act ruling last month but maintained that the state’s map failed under the new standard by intentionally discriminating against Black voters.

    “We cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by intentional race-based discrimination,” the panel of three judges wrote in a lengthy ruling. It also warned against causing voters additional confusion by trying to use a new map before the November elections. 

    The court, the panel wrote, was “painfully aware of the gravity of our ruling.” But, it added, “we do not find the issue particularly complex or close.”

    The decision out of the Birmingham-based federal court was issued by Judge Stanley Marcus, who was nominated to the bench by former President Bill Clinton; and by Judges Anna M. Manasco and Terry F. Moorer, both named to their posts by President Trump. (Judge Marcus typically sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta.)

    Mr. Marshall, the attorney general, said he was “disappointed, but not at all surprised” by the ruling.

    “Know this,” he added, “in my mind, it is not a matter of whether we win this case, only when.”

    In the 79-page ruling, the judges said they faced a difficult choice. They could either greenlight a map they had already concluded was intentionally discriminatory, or they could block that map for the current election. 

    The judges wrote that they did “not lightly intrude in state affairs,” but that their previous review had left them “in no doubt” that Alabama’s map “intentionally discriminated based on race in violation of the Constitution.”

    The panel explained that it had reviewed the case under the Supreme Court’s updated standard, which appears to allow partisan gerrymandering but sets a high standard to challenge maps for race discrimination.

    The judges wrote that the “enormous record” around the drawing of the districts “contains no evidence of a partisan motive.” Their ruling, they wrote, marked a rejection “in the strongest possible terms” of Alabama’s “attempt to finish its intentional decision to dilute minority votes with a veneer of legislative regularity.”

    The decision also wrestles with two issues that have arisen in other states scrambling to redraw their maps in the middle of the primary season: the burden on election officials and the potential for significant voter confusion.

    In tackling these two arguments, the court cited what is known as the Purcell principle, a doctrine that federal courts should generally avoid changing rules too close to an election to avoid voter confusion. When Alabama changed its maps recently, the court argued, voter confusion spiked.

    Citing testimony from the Alabama director of elections, Jeff Elrod, the court said “it will take a chaotic, decentralized, and herculean effort for officials in his office and fourteen counties to reassign voters” to new districts. 

    While the decision was carefully tailored to apply only to specific questions about the redistricting procedures in Alabama, the whiplash in the state could ripple outward. State senators in South Carolina on Tuesday plan to continue to debate a new congressional map that could eliminate the last majority-Black district in the state, even as early voting begins. 

    Alabama has been tangled in litigation over its congressional map for years and had been barred from redistricting until after the 2030 census. Black voters have argued that the state has unfairly undercut their power at the ballot box. More than one in four residents of Alabama are Black.

    But in June 2023, the court stunned many legal watchers by siding with the argument that Alabama had violated the Voting Rights Act and needed to draw a second district with a majority of Black voters or come “close to it.”

    Shortly after, lawmakers returned to Montgomery, the state capital, and drew a new map. But wary of pitting incumbent Republicans against one another, the legislature approved a map that increased the percentage of Black voters in one district to about 40 percent, from about 30 percent.

    This panel of federal judges struck down that map and ordered an independent special master to draw district lines. The master’s map was used in 2024, paving the way for the election of Representative Shomari Figures, a Black Democrat. And it was this map that the federal court said should remain in place for the November elections. 

    “This is a significant step in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go before this fight is settled,” said Mr. Figures in a statement on Tuesday morning.

    Representative Barry Moore, a Senate candidate who currently represents one of the districts that could change under the new map, decried “another example of unelected bureaucrats trying to override the will of Alabama voters and punish our state for standing its ground.” 

    After last month’s Supreme Court decision rejecting Louisiana’s congressional map, Republicans in Southern states saw an opportunity to redraw districts that had core blocs of Black voters who repeatedly elected Democrats, adding to an ongoing gerrymandering battle launched by President Trump and his allies in Texas.

    In Alabama, state officials instead pushed to use the 2023 map, a move the Supreme Court cleared the path for earlier this month. However, it still left the decision up to the federal panel of judges, the same one that rejected the congressional map.

    Nick Corasaniti contributed reporting.

    Featured image credentials: Wes Frazer for The New York Times

  • Newswire: They Can’t Win On Policy, So They’re Rigging The Rules

    Newswire: They Can’t Win On Policy, So They’re Rigging The Rules

    by Ashley Marshall, Co-Founder and Brittany Cheatham, Director of Communications with Forward Justice

    As America approaches its 250th birthday, we can look around us and see all the ways our democracy and society have been enriched by becoming more inclusive. Yet, recent regressions in law and policy are attempting to cement us to a reality where only wealthy, white men have a voice, a vote, or access to political power. Attacks are not happening in isolation; they are coordinated attempts to silence the people and destroy the bedrock of our democracy to keep its promises from being truly realized.

     

    Last week, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Lousiaina v. Callais, a 6-3 ruling along ideological lines that struck down Louisiana’s congressional map that added a second majority-Black district, and in doing so, gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Then, on May 6, the Supreme Court shot down a request to delay the order. We cannot be more clear: this was not a ruling about one state’s map. It marks a fundamental shift in the constitutional understanding of equality, voting rights, and officials’ power to wage “lawfare” against their constituents. We see this ongoing erosion of voting rights by all branches of government, and instead of upholding the constitution and ensuring checks and balances, this court continues to eviscerate precedent and progress, demonstrating their allegiance to party over people. 

     

    For over four decades, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act operated on a clear principle: when electoral systems produce racially discriminatory results, they violate federal law, even when proof of discriminatory intent is absent. Congress amended the VRA in 1982 to make this clear because they knew that lawmakers who want to suppress Black votes rarely announce it. 

     

    Thirteen years ago, in Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court stripped the federal government of the ability to block discriminatory voting changes before they could take effect, and promised that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act would remain a safeguard. That safeguard is now effectively gone. Since the Shelby decision, for over a decade, the North Carolina General Assembly has waged a death by a thousand cuts campaign against voting rights in the state- always under the cover of administrative process, election integrity, or partisan fairness. A federal court found that North Carolina’s redistricting plan was one of the largest racial gerrymanders ever encountered, and their voter suppression legislation was found to target Black Americans “with almost surgical precision,” in our lawsuit, NAACP v. McCroy.  

     

    In NC NAACP v. Hirsch, our photo voter ID lawsuit in North Carolina, voters were told that the Voter ID Exception Form would be a safeguard for those without IDs. Now that a court has issued a ruling in the case, officials are working to eliminate that exception form. We continue to see this same ploy: Remove protections under the guise of “race-neutrality,” point to insufficient remedies as solutions, and then strip away those remedies. What remains in the wake of this scheme are entire communities- taxpayers, parents, essential workers- who are shut out of their democracy and silenced, although they continue to be the core of their communities. 

     

    Ignoring the impact of race is a continuation of decades of racist disenfranchisement and centuries of white supremacy and policy violence, aimed at the very people whose forced labor built — and continues to build — this country. We cannot be “race neutral” in a country that was founded on racist ideology and expect true progress, equity, and repair. There must first be acknowledgment, but what we continue to experience is erasure, disregard, and persistent devastating harm.

     

    Without federal oversight and protections, instead of changing their deeply unpopular policies, officials are methodically changing their electorate. They are attempting to handpick their voters so they can remain in power while silencing those who disagree with them, and our courts continue to uphold this assault at every level. Instead of dogs, water hoses, poll taxes, and batons, the tools of suppression today are gerrymandering, voter ID requirements, and legislation like the SAVE Act. The targets have always been the same: Black and brown voters, poor people, women, students- the very people whose organizing has driven the most transformative change this country has ever known.

     

    We know the South drives policy and change throughout this nation, and we have been here before. Some of the most transformative policies in this country have come from the organizing done right here in the South. An Analysis by Fair Fight Action and Black Voters Matter found that the Callais ruling could eventually lead to a redistricting wave that could help Republicans flip as many as 19 majority-minority seats currently held by Democrats. This ruling has cleared a path for this dangerous practice to spread across the South and beyond, but we will continue the legacy of Southern organizing that has always moved this nation forward.

     

    We launched the POV NC tour to connect with, educate, and empower voters across this state in the face of exactly this kind of assault. We heard from people in counties across North Carolina who all want the same thing: to be heard, and to have officials who enact policies that are just, equitable, and for the people. These are not unreasonable expectations; they are the foundational promise of democracy. We are still fighting unfair maps right here in North Carolina. We are still fighting photo voter ID. We filed an appeal the same day this ruling came down, and we are not stopping. 

     

    Fear of the people and fear of being accountable to the people are driving this wave of “lawfare” and policy violence. Many elected officials know they cannot win based solely on their policies and results, so they are changing the rules. They are more focused on power and gamesmanship than the needs of the people, and they know we can see through the facade. Their fear is its own acknowledgment of our power and progress.

     

    Our democracy is on life support because of relentless attacks from the very people who are supposed to uphold and steward it. But we know that it has always been the power and work of the people to heal, rebuild, and reimagine when those in power fail us. This fight is not over. Full, equitable access to our democracy is our right. We will continue building power and resources in our communities. We will continue to mobilize and demand accountability. We will rise from the ashes of the democracy they are trying so desperately to burn down, and we will build anew- and that new democracy will be rooted in humanity, equity, and most of all, love.

  • Supreme Court lets Alabama speed adoption of congressional map eliminating a majority-Black district

    Supreme Court lets Alabama speed adoption of congressional map eliminating a majority-Black district

    by Lawrence Hurley, NBC News

    WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday removed an obstacle to Alabama’s using a new congressional map in this year’s election that would eliminate one of the state’s two majority-Black districts.

    The court, over the objection of its liberal members, sent litigation over the Republican-drawn map back to the lower court, which could speed up the state’s effort to use its map.

    The state has been battling civil rights plaintiffs over its congressional map for years, with a focus on whether a second majority-Black district was required to comply with the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

    The latest flurry of court filings came in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling on April 29 in a case from Louisiana that undermined a key provision of the law, making it much easier for states to draw districts that dilute minority voting rights.

    The court fast-tracked the Alabama case a week after a similar decision in the Louisiana dispute. Both decisions are a boon to Republicans, who are locked in a redistricting war with Democrats triggered by President Donald Trump, with control of the House at stake.

    In a dissenting opinion, liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the court action was “inappropriate and will cause only confusion as Alabamians begin to vote in the elections scheduled for next week.”

    The Alabama litigation includes a claim that the state’s favored map intentionally discriminates against Black voters, a finding that may not be affected by the Louisiana ruling, Sotomayor added.

    Alabama’s appeal of the lower court ruling that invalidated its map was on hold at the Supreme Court while it decided the Louisiana case. As soon as the ruling was issued, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall asked the justices to act quickly on its appeal so the state can move forward with using its preferred map.

    The Legislature has already passed legislation, signed into law by Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, that would push back the state’s primary elections, which were originally due to take place May 19.

    The Alabama litigation dates to the map the state drew immediately after the 2020 census, which included one majority-Black district. The state, which has a population that is more than a quarter Black, has seven congressional districts.

    Civil rights plaintiffs successfully challenged that map, winning a surprising ruling at the Supreme Court in June 2023.

    The state then sought to try again, drawing a new map — the one the state currently wants to use — that still included one majority-Black district, but the Supreme Court rejected that effort, too, in September 2023. 

    That led to a court-drawn map with two majority-Black districts’ being used in the 2024 election. Democrats won both races.