BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (NEWSnet/AP) — A panel of federal judges on Monday began a review of Alabama’s redrawn congressional map, which opponents argued defies the court’s mandate to create a second district where Black voters have an opportunity to influence the outcome of an election.

The three-judge panel, which blocked the use of the state’s previous map in 2022, will decide whether to let Alabama’s new districts go forward or step in and draw new congressional districts for the state.

Alabama was forced to draw new district lines after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the panel’s previous finding that the state’s map might violate the federal Voting Rights Act. That map had one Black-majority district out of seven, in a state where more than one in four residents is Black.

Lawyers for voters in the case argued Monday that the new plan, which maintains one majority-Black district, still discriminates against Black voters. They said it flouts the panel’s 2022 finding that Alabama should have two districts where Black voters comprise a majority or “something quite close to it.”

Alabama Republicans, who have been reluctant to create a Democratic-leaning district, boosted the percentage of Black voters in the majority-white 2nd Congressional District, now represented by Republican Rep. Barry Moore, from about 30% to 39.9%.

Deuel Ross, a lawyer with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund who argued the case before the Supreme Court, said Alabama lawmakers knew they were supposed to create an opportunity district for Black voters, but refused to do so.

A lawyer for the state accused plaintiffs of seeking a “racial gerrymander” over traditional guidelines for drawing districts, such as making districts compact and keeping communities of interest together.

“It’s unlawful to enforce proportionality over traditional redistricting principles,” Edmund LaCour, Alabama’s solicitor general, told the three-judge panel.

The state insists the new plan complies with the Voting Rights Act.

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