A protester stands with a sign outside the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama, on Thursday, May 7, 2026.
Kim Chandler | AP
A panel of federal judges on Monday blocked Alabama from using congressional district maps that would dilute Black votes in the 2026 midterm elections.
The decision by the U.S. District Court in Birmingham, Alabama, sets the stage for the Supreme Court to determine whether the maps, which were first proposed in 2023, can be used by Alabama this year.
The three-judge panel issued its decision in response to the Supreme Court asking it to reconsider the question of whether the maps can be used in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in a case called Louisiana v. Calais, which found that Louisiana’s depiction of its own congressional map was a racial gerrymander.
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