On Thursday, in a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit stayed a federal district court’s injunction against Jefferson County’s 2021 commission map.
In September, U.S. District Judge Madeline Haikala enjoined the county from using the 2021 plan by ruling it was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
Today’s stay pauses that ruling.
Judge Elizabeth L. Branch and Judge Robert J. Luck, writing in the majority opinion, cited the Supreme Court’s Purcell principle. They warned courts against changing election rules close to an election.
“The post-briefing hearing is scheduled for October 20, 2025, which is only two weeks before the deadline for candidates to establish residency… No electoral map is currently in place and the district court has not provided a date by which a remedial redistricting plan will be approved,” Branch and Luck wrote.
“The district court’s injunction, given its timing, will create confusion and hardship… because there is no electoral map in place mere weeks before the… November 3 residency deadline. The district court’s scheduling order calls for a potential hearing on October 20, with any remedial redistricting plan to follow at an undetermined date. That schedule leaves, at most, two weeks until the November 3 residency deadline. Given the current posture, compliance with this deadline is nearly impossible.”
The majority pushed back on claims that a stay would confuse voters.
“But the plaintiffs vastly overstate the voter confusion that will result from a stay maintaining the status quo … And they understate the diminished public confidence resulting from a last minute remedial redistricting announcement,” Judges Branch and Luck wrote.
Today’s ruling lands while the U.S. Supreme Court is actively rethinking Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which would upend years worth of Alabama racial redistricting fights, and shape the future of such cases as this one.
Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.
