As legislative committees approved two bills Thursday to set up special primaries for certain districts — should the courts act — chants of defiance and protests filled rooms in the State House.
On the fourth day of the special session, lawmakers advanced legislation along party lines to vacate the May 19 primaries for some congressional and state Senate districts and allow special primaries for those elections.
But neither bill will hold any weight unless the court lifts the injunctions preventing the state from using its 2023 congressional map and 2021 state Senate map.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has filed emergency motions, asking the U.S. Supreme Court and a federal court to expedite consideration of those injunctions after the recent Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais struck down a key part of the Voting Rights Act.
The Senate County and Municipal Government Committee passed House Bill 1 along party lines, which sets up a contingency plan for primary elections to be used if the Supreme Court lifts the injunction barring Alabama from altering its congressional map before 2030.
“It does not create anything new,” Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Range, said. “It simply takes matters that have already been established, litigated, and dealt with and passed and simplifies a pathway in which to institute those things that have already been done.”
Alabamians spoke forcefully against the bill during public comment, while no one spoke in favor. Democrats on the committee also voiced their opposition to the bill, while Republicans stayed silent.
Should the court allow the 2023 map to be used, the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th Congressional district lines would change, triggering special elections for those four districts.
U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, who could be drawn out of his seat if the court reverts to the 2023 map, addressed the Alabama Senate and House committees considering the bills.
The first-term congressman won his seat in 2024 after a court ordered the creation of a new map that allowed for more representation of Black voters in the state after judges ruled the 2023 map was racially discriminatory.
“We deserve, as Black people, a fair opportunity on more than just the football fields of Tuscaloosa and Auburn,” Figures said.
“I sit here today, not as someone defending his job, but as someone defending an ideal, someone defending moral, someone that is not here as a critic, not here as someone to ridicule or humiliate or even to shame you, but I stand here today as the little brother of the state of Alabama, trying to get the big brother to do the right thing.”
Immediately after the committee vote, protestors stood up and shouted “end white supremacy,” and “we’ve got the power.”
Also on Thursday, the House Ways and Means General Fund Committee passed Senate Bill 1 along party lines. It sets up the same contingency plan for primaries affecting the two state Senate districts that would be impacted by a potential court decision.
Returning to the 2021 State Senate district map would affect Montgomery-area Districts 25 and 26.
Several Alabamians objected to the bill during public comment, including some Tuskegee University students.
“This issue is not abstract,” Aliya Purnell, a sophomore, said. “It concerns Alabama’s future and your commitment to equal representation. If our representation is removed, students like me will face broken promises, lost scholarships and reduced resources.”
Democrats also condemned the bill during the hearing, while Republicans did not comment except for Speaker Pro Tem Chris Pringle, R-Mobile, who answered questions and spoke about the bill’s details.
The bills now head to the full chambers on Friday morning for a final vote. The House and Senate will gavel in at 9 am.
Alabama’s primaries are still scheduled for May 19.