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1 1 (September 29, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govenal0001 and id is 1 raw text is: SCongressionaI a Research Servi e Allen v. Milligan: Supreme Court Holds That Alabama Redistricting Map Likely Violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act Updated September 29, 2023 On June 8, 2023, the Supreme Court in Allen v. Milligan affirmed two federal district court rulings that preliminarily enjoined the State of Alabama from holding elections under its congressional redistricting map because the map likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The Court also reaffirmed the constitutionality of Section 2, as construed by its 1986 decision in Thornburg v Gingles, establishing three preconditions for challenging a redistricting map under Section 2. Section 2 of the VRA generally prohibits any voting law or practice, including a redistricting map, that results in the denial or abridgment of the right to vote based on race, color, or membership in a language minority group. In accordance with Gingles, Section 2 may require the creation of one or more majority- minority districts-in which a racial or language minority group comprises a voting majority-to avoid minority vote dilution. In this case, the district courts preliminarily enjoined Alabama election officials from conducting congressional elections using the challenged map after finding that the challengers were substantially likely to prove that the map violated Section 2 of the VRA, and ordered Alabama to revise the map to contain a second majority-Black district to comport with Section 2. This Legal Sidebar discusses the Court's ruling in Milligan and subsequent litigation in that case, and concludes with an analysis of considerations for Congress. An earlier CRS product, Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Voting Rights Act Challenge to Congressional Redistricting Map and Stays Lower Court Ruling: Implications for Congress, provides background on Section 2 of the VRA and related Supreme Court precedent, as well as the lower courts' procedural history and decisions. Supreme Court Ruling in Allen v. Milligan By a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court in Allen v. Milligan affirmed a decision by a three-judge federal district court panel, along with a related federal district court ruling in Allen v Caster, that preliminarily enjoined Alabama election officials from holding elections under the state's 2021 congressional redistricting plan because the plan likely violated Section 2 of the VRA. (This Sidebar, like the Court in Milligan, collectively refers to the two lower courts as the district court.) Chief Justice Roberts wrote the majority Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB11002 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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