Crowds gathered outside the Alabama State House Monday afternoon to express their opposition to a special session, which began the same day, focusing on a contingency plan in case the U.S. Supreme Court lifts an injunction blocking use of a Republican-backed congressional map.
The special session comes less than a week after a ruling from the high court in a Louisiana case that weakened the Voting Rights Act.
At issue is a 2023 congressional map passed by Republican legislators that federal courts said violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting the influence of Black voters. Instead, a court-drawn map resulted in two Black Democrats being elected in 2024.
But Alabama officials have asked the Supreme Court to quickly review that decision and allow the 2023 map to stand, in light of their recent ruling on the civil-rights-era law.
If the high court were to rule in favor of the state, the legislation under consideration in the special session would pave the way for a special primary which could oust one or both Democrats currently serving in Congress from Alabama.
'We matter'
Monday's protest at the state house drew people from across the state, including Rev. Gregory Scott of Huntsville.
“I'm here to say, look Alabama. We matter. Every vote in Alabama matters. And if you're going to take us back to a Jim Crow era, we will not stand for that," Scott said.
That's a sentiment shared by Travis Jackson, who attended the protest with the organization Black Voters Matter.
"What they decided to do was not hear the people, but hear the politicians," Jackson said. "I believe now more than ever, we have to understand that there's power in our voices.”
"It's not right," Montgomery resident Don Clemons said, "They are trying to pick their own electors instead of electors picking them."
Marsha Sturdevant from Shelby County questioned the estimated $5 million cost of holding a special primary election.
“I think this is a big show, a huge waste of money for the taxpayers,” Sturdevant said. “It's trying to accomplish something that I truly don't believe in.”
Civil rights activist Sheyann Webb-Christburg was a child when she marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on Bloody Sunday — the day in 1965 when law enforcement attacked peaceful voting rights demonstrators. She said the push for special elections and the changes to the congressional districts is a continuation of threats to Black Alabamians' voting rights.
“As I reflect on that Bloody Sunday march today, I am deeply saddened," Webb-Christburg said. "To stand here today for us to be in the state in which we're in, and not only fighting to keep our right to vote, but also fighting to continue to get people to continue to vote.”
Democratic lawmakers have also introduced legislation to keep the congressional map the state is currently using. However, Republicans hold a supermajority in the legislature.
