A three-judge federal panel has invalidated Alabama’s proposed congressional map for the 2026 midterm elections, halting the state’s effort to implement its 2023 Republican-backed redistricting plan.

The court ruled that Alabama must continue using a remedial map featuring two majority-Black districts—a configuration that effectively grants Democrats a second competitive seat in the deep-red state. This decision follows the state legislature’s attempt to draw a new map after the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Allen v. Milligan, which found Alabama’s original plan likely violated the Voting Rights Act.

Alabama officials have vowed to appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. The federal court rejected the 2023 map as containing intentional race-based discrimination, noting it only created one Black-majority district despite lower courts requiring two districts where Black voters could elect their preferred candidates.

Rep. Shomari Figures, who won the seat in a flipped district under the current map, welcomed the ruling but emphasized that “there is still a long way to go.” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall stated the state will immediately appeal the decision, describing the blocked map as “blandly unobjectionable.”

The injunction remains in effect until the Supreme Court intervenes, ensuring the court-ordered map will govern Alabama’s elections through 2026.