Major win for Black voters—Supreme Court won't block ruling requiring new Alabama congressional map

The Supreme Court delivered a major victory for Black voters on Tuesday when it rejected a request by Alabama Republicans to keep their gerrymandered congressional map in place for 2024, after a lower court found that the map likely violated the Voting Rights Act. The high court's decision paves the way for the lower court to adopt a new map that creates a second district where Black voters could elect their preferred candidate, almost certainly a Black Democrat.

Just one day earlier, on Monday, an expert appointed by the lower court had proposed three maps for the judges to consider. The court will hold a hearing next week beginning on Oct. 3 and implement a new map soon after. Those three maps are shown at the top of this story, and we'll explore them in more detail below. (Click here for a larger image, and see here for interactive versions.)