Blount and Etowah Counties fall into new Congressional Districts

Alabama lawmakers voted Friday to redraw congressional district lines to meet a federal court deadline.After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month the state's districts did not comply with the Voting Rights Act, a lower court gave Alabama until July 21 to fix it.The Supreme Court told Alabama to offer two districts which provided Black voters with the opportunity to pick the candidate of their choice.So after a full week of debate, the Senate and House approved a plan which shifted 10 counties into new districts but did not create a second majority-Black congressional zone."I think they flipped the Supreme Court off, they violated the rule of law, and they really never had the true intent to come down and do business of the people," Rep. Juandalyn Givan said after the House vote.The percentage of Black voters in District 2 in Southeast Alabama was boosted to about 40 percent, and the Black Belt was merged from three districts into two.Stay up-to-date: The latest headlines and weather from WVTM 13 "If we knew exactly what to do, if they had given us a directive of this much percentage and make sure all the communities of interest, as you heard all week long in debate. Different people have different ideas of what communities of interest is," Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter said.Of the counties now located in new congressional districts, Etowah County shifts to District 3, and Blount County moves to District 4.