Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Alabama’s attorney general has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court after the latest proposed congressional map was struck down by a panel of three federal judges on the grounds that it violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Representative Debbie Wood said that she was disappointed with the court system’s ruling on the state of Alabama’s map.

“Because the law says we should not draw a map based upon race but yet they’re telling us we have to,” she said.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall requested an appeal from the U.S. Supreme Court of the lower court’s ruling. Marshall’s office also requested a temporary hold on the lower court’s ruling while the Supreme Court reviews the appeal.

On Sept. 5, the three-judge panel said in their order that they were “deeply troubled” by the state of Alabama’s map which they conceded does not meet the federal court’s order:

“The law requires the creation of an additional district that affords Black Alabamians, like everyone else, a fair and reasonable opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. The 2023 Plan plainly fails to do so.”

The judges previously ordered state lawmakers to create a congressional map that provides two opportunity districts for Black voters. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed discriminatory practices in voting rights, such as literacy tests and in drawing district maps.