Redistricting in Alabama

Here’s how new congressional maps shift voting power in every state

By Janie Boschma, Renée Rigdon, Byron Manley and Ethan Cohen, CNN. Additional reporting and design by Melissa DePalo, Eleanor Stubbs and Christopher Hickey, CNN

Last updated: November 8, 2022

Every 10 years, states redraw the boundaries of their congressional districts to reflect new population counts from the census.

After two federal courts blocked Alabama’s new Republican-drawn map — finding that it likely violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting the political power of Black voters — the US Supreme Court stepped in and restored the map at least for this cycle. The high court will hear the case this fall, but the Republican-drawn map remains in place until they rule.

How the districts voted in 2020, by presidential vote margin in percentage points

Democratic

30+
15+
5+

Competitive

Within 5

Republican

5+
15+
30+

Old map 7 districts

In the old congressional map, there are 1 Democratic, 0 competitive and 6 Republican districts.

Change

Change in Democratic districts: 0

Change in Competitive districts: 0

Change in Republican districts: 0

New map 7 districts

In the new congressional map, there are 1 Democratic, 0 competitive and 6 Republican districts.

How the new map shifts voting power by demographic

Alabama’s GOP-controlled legislature drew a map that’s similar to last decade’s, with six largely White and Republican districts, and one district that’s mostly Black and Democratic.

Two federal courts ruled that Alabama should add a second majority-Black district, but that was blocked by the US Supreme Court, which takes up the case in the fall.

Number of White-majority districts
Old Map
6
New Map
6
A chart showing the number of White-majority districts has remained the same with 6.
Black-majority districts
1
1
A chart showing the number of Black-majority districts has remained the same with 1.

The group that represents the majority in each district

White
Black

About the data

Sources: US Census Bureau, Edison Research, each state’s legislature or other redistricting authority

Methodology note: Block-level demographic data from the 2020 census is reaggregated into each new district’s boundaries.