Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday announced the Republican-controlled state legislature will hold a special session next week to pave the way for redistricting – becoming the second state to take action following the Supreme Court’s decision further weakening the Voting Rights Act.
Lawmakers will meet starting Monday to establish a special primary election for both US House and state Senate districts “whose boundary lines are altered by court action,” Ivey, a Republican, said in her proclamation.
The state’s primary election is slated for May 19.
In the immediate aftermath of the high court’s Wednesday ruling striking down a majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana, Ivey indicated that her state would not attempt to redraw its lines. Alabama currently is under a court order prohibiting the state from redistricting until after the 2030 census.
But Ivey and other officials have faced intense pressure to act. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall on Thursday filed motions asking the high court to move quickly to lift the injunctions so Alabama can proceed with redistricting.
State efforts to redraw their lines ahead of November’s midterm elections carry high stakes for both political parties. Republicans currently hold a paper-thin majority in the House, and both parties have waged a coast-to-coast mid-decade redistricting war for months, seeking to eke out a partisan advantage.
Redistricting typically occurs once a decade, after the census.
This week’s ruling from the Supreme Court – which makes it significantly harder to challenge redistricting plans as discriminatory – has set off a fresh redistricting scramble.
In a statement, Ivey said she is calling the special session in the hopes that the state will prevail in court. Alabama is currently represented in the US House by five Republicans and two Democrats, after courts ordered the creation of a second congressional district with a sizable Black population.
Ivey’s action comes a day after Republican officials in Louisiana announced that they were delaying the state’s primary elections for US House, although overseas ballots have already been mailed. Louisiana officials say they will not count votes cast in the May 16 election for US House seats, as the legislature looks to draw a new map.
Voters, civil rights organizations and other groups have filed legal challenges, seeking to block the Louisiana plan.
CNN’s John Fritze contributed to this report.
