House committee approves Alabama redistricting plan

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — An Alabama House committee approved new legislative districts Tuesday over the objections of black Democrats, who complained that the GOP-drawn plan furthers racial gerrymandering in favor of conservative Republican dominance and fails to remedy problems found by the court.

Alabama lawmakers must redraw district lines before the 2018 elections after a threejudge panel ruled in January that the GOP-controlled Legislature improperly made race a predominant factor when drawing boundaries. The ruling came after black lawmakers filed a lawsuit challenging the districts, arguing African-American voters were “stacked and packed” into designated minority districts to make neighboring districts whiter and more Republican.

The House Constitution, Campaigns and Election Committee voted Tuesday to send the new plan to the House floor.

Rep. Randy Davis, the committee’s chairman, said he believes the plan is equitable. He also said it fixes the problems found by the court as well as by a 2017 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a similar Virginia redistricting case to avoid splitting counties

“We think we are addressing it in a very fair and forthright way,” said Davis, R-Daphne.

Rep. John Knight, chairman of the House Black Caucus, argued that Republicans are making minimal changes.

“It’s clear to me we are headed back to court, which is very unfortunate,” Knight, D-Montgomery, said.

The number of majority-minority legislative districts reflects the state’s minority population. But lawmakers who challenged the plan in court argued that an overreliance on race in drawing lines to pack minority voters into certain districts limited their ability to influence elections anywhere else in the state.

“They are trying to maintain the supermajority they already have,” Knight said of the Republicans

Black lawmakers began a filibuster in protest to slow down the pace of debate on other legislation.

“I don’t care if the Pope’s got a bill today, it’s dead,” Rogers, D-Birmingham, said.

One sticking point is partisan control of Jefferson County, home to the state’s largest city, Birmingham. The majority black city is the focus of partisan disputes over legislation affecting local governments.