The order gives the legislature 14 days to draw a new map that includes “two districts in which Black voters either comprise a voting-age majority or something quite close to it.”
The court also delayed the state’s ballot qualification deadline from January 28 to February 11. That delay only applies to congressional candidates.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in court filings Tuesday that he was appealing that decision and another from a three-judge panel on Monday ordering the state to redraw its congressional map. The decision issued by the three-judge panel is being appealed directly to the Supreme Court while the other case, which was before US District Judge Anna M. Manasco, is being appealed to the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals.
“This decision is a win for Alabama’s black voters, who have been denied equal representation for far too long,” former US Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement Monday evening released by the National Redistricting Foundation, which it said had supported the plaintiffs in the case before the district judge.
“The court’s decision reminds us that the moral arc of the universe does indeed bend toward justice — but only when enough people join together and pull it toward justice,” Holder added.
This story has been updated Wednesday.
