Ivey Extends Special Primary Filing Deadline
Governor pushes election timelines back as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs the future of Alabama’s 2023 congressional map
Governor Kay Ivey has extended a key certification deadline in Alabama’s special congressional primary election by five days as State leaders await a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on the legality of the State’s 2023 congressional map.
The move comes amid mounting uncertainty over which congressional districts Alabama will use in the 2026 election cycle. The governor’s order shifts the certification deadline for the August 11 special primary from May 29 to June 3.
The special election affects Alabama’s 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th Congressional Districts. Those races were triggered earlier this month after the Supreme Court temporarily cleared the way for Alabama to use its legislatively drawn 2023 map, prompting Ivey to call a new round of elections.
That map, however, was struck down again this week by a three-judge federal panel, which ruled the plan intentionally discriminated against Black voters and violated the Voting Rights Act.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has already appealed the decision back to the Supreme Court. In a recent filing, Marshall argued that election officials and candidates need clarity quickly as election deadlines approach.
The legal fight traces back to the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Allen v. Milligan, which found Alabama’s original congressional map likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by diluting Black voting strength. Lawmakers later approved a revised 2023 map, but federal courts repeatedly found it failed to create a second district where Black voters could effectively elect a candidate of their choice.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court vacated the lower court’s remedial map following its ruling in Louisiana redistricting litigation, leading Alabama Republicans to attempt another transition back to the Legislature’s preferred map.
The latest federal ruling halted that effort, leaving election officials in limbo while the State again seeks emergency intervention from the nation’s highest court.
For now, Ivey’s order buys election administrators several more days as Alabama waits for a final answer on which congressional boundaries will govern this year’s races.
Gov. Ivey’s letter to Secretary of State Wes Allen rescheduling the certification deadline is below:
