Judge Orders Use of Court-Selected Map in 2026, 2030 Elections
New map will affect State Senate Districts 25 and 26
A federal judge has ordered the State of Alabama to use a freshly drawn map for the upcoming 2026 and 2030 elections for the Alabama State Senate, finding that the current map unlawfully diluted the voting power of Black residents in the Montgomery area.
On August 22, 2025, Judge Anna M. Manasco issued a ruling that the existing Senate map violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by “packing” Black voters into Senate District 26 around Montgomery, thus limiting their influence in adjacent districts. In her ruling, she wrote: “The Court orders the use of a remedial map that was prepared race-blind and affords Black voters in the Montgomery area an equal opportunity, but certainly not a guarantee, to elect Senators of their choice.”
The order stems from a 2021 lawsuit, in which civil-rights groups alleged the Alabama Senate district lines diluted Black voting strength around Montgomery because Black voters were concentrated in a single district while white voters from the majority-Black city were moved into a neighbouring district. Among the consequences: the Court selected one of three proposed remedial plans prepared by a Court-appointed expert. That plan “unpacks District 26 by moving some Black voters from District 26 into the adjacent District 25.”
Importantly, the State is barred from using the current map for the 2026 election unless the Legislature draws a replacement map that meets the Court’s requirements. Governor Ivey has thus far declined to call the Legislature into special session to draw such a map, and with the holiday season beginning, it is unlikely she will do so in advance of both Republican and Democrat party election qualifying dates in January.
Despite these changes, the partisan balance in the Alabama Senate is not expected to shift significantly: Republicans hold 27 of the chamber’s 35 seats as of now.
Civil-rights advocates welcomed the ruling for the Montgomery area, but many noted that the decision leaves other regions—such as the Huntsville area—untouched.
