In news that’s surprising to absolutely no one, the last-minute redistricting efforts by several southern states have caused confusion among both candidates and voters.
According to the Hill, Alabama voters are among those who are understandably confused about what the redistricting effort means for their vote. This isn’t terribly surprising, considering how last-minute Alabama’s redistricting effort has been. After the Supreme Court gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, Alabama moved to revive a map that was previously found to be racially gerrymandered. The state legislature passed a bill allowing Gov. Kay Ivey to delay primary elections in districts that would be impacted by the redistricting effort.
Alabama’s redistricting effort hasn’t gone smoothly, as a panel of federal judges ruled that the map is still a blatant racial gerrymander, even under the weakened Voting Rights Act. Alabama’s attorney general intends to bring the map before the Supreme Court, which only three years ago ruled that the map was a racial gerrymander. Let’s see if they keep that same energy…