Alabama legislature heads to special session to redraw congressional map

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Gov. Kay Ivey announced Tuesday the Alabama Legislature is headed into a special session to address the redrawing of the state’s congressional map. The legislature will convene at 2 p.m. on Monday, July 17, 2023.

“It is critical that Alabama be fairly and accurately represented in Washington,” Ivey said in a statement released by her office. “That is why I support the Alabama Legislature readdressing our congressional map in a special session beginning July 17.”

Ivey said it is “of the utmost importance that this special session only address the congressional map and nothing else,” calling it a task that is “too urgent and too important.”

The legislature is under a court-ordered deadline to complete the task of forming a congressional map that includes a second majority Black district.

The deadline comes after the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s finding that Alabama likely violated the Voting Rights Act. Alabama’s current map has seven districts, only one of which is represented by a Black representative despite African Americans making up more than 25% of the state’s population.

“The Alabama Legislature has one chance to get this done before the July 21 court deadline,” Ivey said. “Our Legislature knows our state, our people and our districts better than the federal courts or activist groups do.”

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