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How did Allen v. Milligan address Alabama’s congressional district map?

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In Allen v. Milligan (2023), the U.S. Supreme Court addressed a redistricting map drawn by Alabama following the 2020 census. The Court affirmed a lower-court ruling that the map likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.12

The legal challenge centered on the fact that Alabama’s map included only one Black-majority congressional district, despite Black residents comprising 27 percent of the state’s population. Alabama argued that the map was created using race-neutral criteria and contended that creating an additional Black-majority district would constitute racial discrimination in violation of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments.13

In a 5–4 decision, the Court rejected Alabama’s position, upholding the lower court’s finding that the map diluted the voting power of the state’s Black population and thus violated the federal prohibition against electoral practices that abridge the voting rights of minorities.13