A federal judge ruled that Alabama’s Jefferson County must redraw its county commission lines after finding the current districts were racially gerrymandered.
According to WVUA, Jefferson County is the largest county in Alabama, with Black people making up 42% of the population. U.S. District Judge Madeline H. Haikala ruled the county map was unconstitutional because it packed all of the county’s Black voters into only two districts. “Because the 2021 plan violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s protection against racial gerrymandering, the Court permanently enjoins the Commission and its agents from using the 2021 plan in Jefferson County Commission elections,” Haikala wrote in her ruling. She gave the plaintiffs and the county 30 days to report back on the development of a new map.
