On October 5, a 3-judge U.S. District Court chose a redistricting plan for Alabama U.S. House districts. Singleton v Allen, m.d., 2:21cv-1530. The new map can be seen at the end of the 40-page decision. Compared with the districts that were in place in 2022, which were drawn by the legislature, only two districts have new boundaries. The two Black-majority districts are the Second (which has Montgomery and the black-majority counties in the region known as the “Black Belt”) and the Seventh, which has Birmingham.
It would have been impossible for any independent candidate for the two districts that changed to have been petitioning before today, because signatures can only come from inside the district, and no one knew what the district boundaries were going to be. Normally an independent candidate in Alabama has an unlimited amount of time in which to petition. Under several districts from states inside the Eleventh Circuit, it is unconstitutional for Alabama to require petitioning candidates to obtain the normal number of signatures, when the time to get them is curtailed.
In 1982, the Eleventh Circuit ruled in a Georgia case that the Citizens Party must be granted a more time because the normal petition period wasn’t available. Citizens Party v Poythress, 82-8411. In 2002, a U.S. District Court in Georgia cut the number of signatures for U.S. House by 33% due to late redistricting having curtailed the amount of time. Parker v Barnes, n.d., 1:02cv-1883. There are two similar cases from Florida. And, most important for Alabama, in 2016 a U.S. District Court ruled that Alabama must provide relief when the normal petitioning period is not available. Hall v Bennett, 212 F.Supp.3d 1148. That case involved a special election, not late reditsricting, but the same principle applies. In 2018 the Eleventh Circuit ruled that the U.S. District Court should not have entertained the case because it was moot, but the Eleventh Circuit did not criticize the holding. In Hall v Bennett, there was a dispute on whether the independent candidate for U.S. House should have started as soon as the special election was announced, or whether he should have waited until the date of the special election had been set, but the decision said it didn’t matter whether the candidate had 56 days or 106 days; either way the state should have cut the number of signatures or extended the deadline.
Based on these precedents, any petitioning candidate for U.S. House in Alabama has a strong case that the normal number of signatures (approximately 5,000) should be substantially reduced, or the March 2024 deadline extended.
ANTI-DEMOCRACY INDIRECT MINORITY RULE GOVERNMENTS OF, BY AND FOR GERRYMANDER MONARCHS/OLIGARCHS– AND SPECIAL INTEREST LOOTER GANGS — SINCE 1776 IN THE USA.
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P-A-T
GERRYMANDER DISTS BY
LAWS
COMMS
JUDGES
ALL THE ROTTED SAME.
1/2 X 1/2 = 1/4 SUPER-WORSE PRIMARY MATH.
TOO MANY MATH MORONS TO COUNT – ESP SINCE 1964
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PR- PART OF P-A-T
Why do you keep insisting I’m part Puerto Rican? I’m not.
Also, I disagree with the decision. The district’s the legislature drew were fine and should have been allowed to stand.
Pat, what about the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which is the basis for this court decision? Would you repeal the Voting Rights Act? Congress passed it repeatedly, not only in 1965, but re-affirmed it about four times since then because otherwise it would have expired.
1965 VRA UN-CON SINCE DAY 1
15 AMDT IS NOOOOO GUARANTEE FOR ANY GROUP TO WIN AN ELECTION.
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P-A-T
Yes, of course I would repeal it. Many bad things happened in 1965, including the worst legislation ever (the 1965 immigration law). The “voting rights” law should have also never been passed.
The best thing would have been to never pass it. Next best, to have let it expire.
Without the Voting Rights Act, Black voters in the deep south would have continued to be blocked from registering to vote. Do you believe that the 15th amendment should never have been passed? The Voting Rights Act enforced the 15th Amendment. People gave their lives during the 1960’s to enable Black citizens to register.
REGISTERING AND A PERVERSION TO HAVE A RACIAL GROUP WIN AN ELECTION ARE QUITE SEPARATE ITEMS.
OLDE1870 ENFORCEMENT LAW HAS MANY REGISTRATION SECTIONS —
REPEALED CIRCA 1894 BY DEMS >>> NEW DARK AGE FOR BLACKS IN EX-SLAVE STATES — UNTIL 1954 BROWN
RELATED — NON-ENFORCEMENT OF 14-2 AMDT SINCE 1868.
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P-A-T
Yes, I most certainly believe the 15th amendment should have never passed and is among many which should be repealed.
I support the sensible restrictions on voting which Alabama had before the unwarranted federal government intervention.
All ballot access laws are unconstitutionally vague, capricious and arbitrary.
Pat makes excellent points above. I agree completely.
I feel the decision was correct, given the law.
But, I do not support a law that limits “racially disciminatory vote dilution”.
I also do not support a law that mandates single-member districts.
I also do not support a law that too tightly restricts variance in population between districts.
I might support a law that does not allow US House districts to divide a municipality.
I do support a law that protects absolutely the right to vote of any US citizen 18 or older.
I agree the number of required signatures should be reduced.
Even under the existing law it can be sunsetted, or better yet declared unconstitutional.
1965 VRA IS NOW PART OF TITLE 52 US CODE-
LOTS OF MERE 5 DIGIT SECTION NUMBERS
I agree with D. Frank Robinson. I think this nation is about to continue being worse off if nothing is done about them. Some states already have a one-party dictatorship, and I believe it will only get worse if there isn’t a cultural change.
@Pat
What about the 13th Amendment?
@RW,
Would it be possible to list which Alabamians, who are US Citizens, male, over 21, and not disqualified due to a felony conviction or insurrection, who are disenfranchised or right to vote is abridged?
Repeal 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 19th (I could live without voting if other females had no such right), 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th. 21st is also questionable at best. On 1-10, the antifederalist argument that it would lead to the notion being widespread that the federal government can do anything not expressly forbidden, rather than only what is expressly authorized, appears to have been correct, but at this stage I would keep them.
No one is going to bring back chattel slavery legally at this point, and the 13th-15th were improperly adopted.
Jim Riley, that would take review of mental incompetence judgements. I’m not sure it’s public information. If it is, it may not be centrally collected.
@PF,
The 14th Amendment apportionment clause does not make any distinction about the reason for disenfranchisement. When Congress was considering enforcement after the 1870 Census, they would have adjusted the population for illiterate, idiotic, and insane voters.
Richard Winger seems to believe certain individual are not able to vote because of their race and place of residence. Does he believe these persons are countable?
Mea Culpa on 25th. That is one which should probably stay.
PAT WROTE-
No one is going to bring back chattel slavery legally at this point.
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YEAH SURE —
TRUMP WOULD LOVE TO KILL OR MERELY ENSLAVE ALL OF HIS OPPONENTS.
HOW MANY DEATH THREATS SO FAR BY TRUMP ???
SEE HITLER IN HIS WAR IN THE USSR IN 1941-1945.
AMAZING THAT A-N-Y USSR PERSON, AGE ZERO TO 120, SURVIVED IN ANY AREA TAKEN OVER BY NAZI MILITARY IN 1941-1945.
AZ really is fucking retarded. He’s thinking of Joe Biden.