A federal court blocked Alabama’s new congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterms, ruling it intentionally discriminated against black voters. The case is expected to head back to the Supreme Court.

A federal panel on Tuesday blocked Alabama from using a newly proposed congressional map in the 2026 midterm elections, ruling the plan intentionally discriminated against black voters and violated the Constitution.

The decision marks another major development in the South’s ongoing redistricting battle and could have national implications as Republicans and Democrats fight for control of the House ahead of November.

In a 79-page opinion, the three-judge panel wrote that Alabama’s map was “tainted by intentional race-based discrimination” and should not be used in the upcoming election cycle.

“We cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by intentional race-based discrimination,” the judges wrote.

The ruling came from a panel that included two judges appointed by President Donald Trump and one appointed by former President Bill Clinton. The judges said they reviewed the case under the Supreme Court’s newly narrowed standards for racial gerrymandering claims, but still concluded that Alabama’s map violated federal law.

The court also rejected the state’s argument that the map was drawn for partisan reasons rather than racial ones.

“The enormous record around the drawing of the districts contains no evidence of a partisan motive,” the judges wrote.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall quickly announced the state would appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

“I am disappointed, but not at all surprised by the decision,” Marshall said in a statement filed Tuesday. “Know this: in my mind, it is not a matter of whether we win this case, only when.”

The dispute centers on whether Alabama lawmakers fairly represented black voters after courts previously ordered the state to create a second district where Black voters could elect their preferred candidate.

More than one in four Alabama residents is black.

After the Supreme Court sided against Alabama in 2023, state lawmakers approved a revised map that raised the black voting-age population in one district from roughly 30% to about 40%. Civil rights groups argued the change still failed to provide equal representation.

A court-appointed special master later drew a separate map used during the 2024 election cycle. That map helped elect Rep. Shomari Figures (D-Alabama), one of Alabama’s first Black members of Congress in decades, from the newly redrawn district.

“This is a significant step in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go before this fight is settled,” Figures said Tuesday.

Republicans blasted the ruling as federal overreach. Rep. Barry Moore (R-Alabama), who represents one of the districts affected by the proposed changes, criticized the court’s decision in a statement.

“This is another example of unelected bureaucrats trying to override the will of Alabama voters and punish our state for standing its ground,” Moore said.

The judges acknowledged the ruling could create election challenges because Alabama already scheduled special primaries for August. They cited testimony from Alabama Elections Director Jeff Elrod, who warned that reassigning voters would require “a chaotic, decentralized, and herculean effort.”

Still, the panel said blocking a discriminatory map outweighed concerns about confusion before the election.

“We are painfully aware of the gravity of our ruling,” the judges wrote. “But we do not find the issue particularly complex or close.”

The case is now expected to be one of the first major voting rights disputes to return to the Supreme Court after the Court’s recent decisions weakening parts of the Voting Rights Act.