Alabama schedules August special primaries after Supreme Court map ruling

Alabama has moved the battle over Black voting power from the courtroom to the ballot box, setting special congressional primaries for Aug. 11 if the state is allowed to revive its 2023 map. The new elections would affect the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th congressional districts, a dramatic shift that could reshape who represents much of the state before the 2026 midterms.

Gov. Kay Ivey signed the special-election legislation on May 8, after a fast-moving special session designed to prepare for the possibility that federal courts lift the injunctions blocking Alabama’s 2023 congressional map and 2021 state Senate map. The state’s regular primary remains set for May 19, but officials moved quickly because absentee voting was already underway and the district lines could change again before the general election.

The stakes are stark. The current court-ordered map created in 2023 includes two majority-Black districts. If Alabama reverts to the Legislature’s 2023 plan, the state would return to just one majority-Black congressional district. That would leave Black voters with less representation in a state where federal courts had already found Alabama’s earlier map likely diluted Black voting power.

In 2023, a federal court ordered Alabama to use a map with one majority-Black seat in the 7th District and one Black opportunity seat in the 2nd District. Under that court-ordered map, Democrat Shomari Figures of Mobile won the 2nd District in 2024. Figures has warned that Black voters deserve a fair chance at representation, while Alabama Republicans say the new map could put the 2nd District back in play and give them a shot at flipping the 7th as well.

Ivey said Alabama was ready to act quickly if the courts allowed the old map to take effect, telling residents, “Alabama knows our state, our people and our districts best.” Voting-rights groups pushed back in court, arguing that reverting to the 2023 map after ballots and deadlines had already advanced would run contrary to the public interest.

The fight is unfolding against a broader national redistricting struggle. The U.S. Supreme Court’s May 2026 Louisiana decision narrowed Voting Rights Act protections in redistricting cases, encouraging similar Republican-led redraw efforts across the South. Alabama now joins Louisiana, Tennessee and South Carolina in a widening push to redraw House maps before voters cast ballots in November.