The court battle surrounding Alabama’s Congressional district lines is drawing closer. Today, the Alabama Republican Party filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court, supporting the state’s appeal of the Congressional redistricting lawsuit.
A federal district court ruled in January that Alabama’s Congressional lines violated the Voting Rights Act and needed to be redrawn, putting the primary election calendar on hold. Shortly thereafter, the State of Alabama and ALGOP filed briefs asking the Supreme Court for a stay to that order. The high court granted the request for a stay, and agreed to hear an appeal of the lower court’s decision.
Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wahl issued the following statement:
“This case is incredibly important to the people of Alabama. As a representative of Republican voters of all racial backgrounds, I felt it was incredibly important to correct the record in several areas, as well as provide addition information for consideration by the high court.
“The ALGOP has a long history of defending civil liberties and minority rights, from our days as the party of Lincoln, to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1900s. We look at each person as an individual with God-given rights. I am committed to continuing this proud tradition, and will continue to fight for free and fair elections for all the people of Alabama without looking at someone’s race or gender.
“History is clear, it was the Democrat Party that suppressed minority voting rights, and we are not going to sit by and watch the Democrat Party use minorities as a tool to increase their political power. They forget that minority voters are both Republican and Democrat, and that minority Republicans deserve a voice too.
“For over 100 years, Democrats maintained control of almost every aspect of government in Alabama. In fact, our current Congressional district lines are based off of maps drawn in the early 1990s. These basic lines were put in place by the Democrat controlled State Legislature and Alabama’s black caucus, and have been cleared by the U.S. Justice Department on multiple occasions.
“The question must be asked, why are these traditional District lines suddenly viewed as unfair? The answer is that Republicans started winning the seats originally created by the Democrats.
“As we say in our filing, if the struggle over political control means anything, it is that political control should be left to the people of the state being represented. The fact is the majority of Alabamians support the conservative principles of the Republican Party over the socialist agenda of the Democrat Party. This is why Republicans continue to hold super majorities in this State. It is about the values we hold, and has nothing to do with race.”
Contact: Jeannie Negrón Burniston
ALGOP Communications Director
