Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, discusses a primary bill in the Alabama Senate on May 6, 2026 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The Senate approved the bill, which would allow the state to set new primary elections in two Montgomery-area state Senate districts if federal courts allow the state to use a legislative map previously declared unconstitutional. (Andrea Tinker/Alabama Reflector)
The Alabama Legislature on Wednesday passed legislation that could set new primary dates for the state amid protests within the Statehouse and flooding that led the Alabama Senate to quickly pass its bill before a mass evacuation of the building.
HB 1, sponsored by Speaker Pro Tempore Chris Pringle, R-Mobile, would allow for a new special election if the U.S. Supreme Court lifts an injunction preventing the state from redrawing congressional maps before 2030. SB 1, sponsored by Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, affects two Montgomery-area Senate districts.
The legislation drew sharp criticism from Democrats, who said the bills aimed to reduce Black political representation in the Legislature.
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“This body continues to find more ways to make voting more difficult, more ways to suppress the vote and more ways to dilute the power of the Black vote,” said Rep. Adline Clarke, D-Mobile. “Make no mistake, that’s what HB 1 would do, and it’s a tragic step backwards for Black Alabama voters. But we’ve been here before and we will not give up this fight.”
The legislation will only take effect if federal courts respond favorably to a flurry of cases filed by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall seeking to reverse federal court rulings in 2023 and 2025 that found congressional and legislative maps approved by the Legislature violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and discriminated against Black voters. The rulings led to new court-ordered maps.
The U.S. Supreme Court last week weakened Section 2 in a case known as Louisiana v. Callais. However, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the ruling did not apply to Allen v. Milligan, the 2023 case that led to congressional redistricting.
House members debated for five hours over the measure. The Senate late Wednesday appeared to be heading for a similarly lengthy debate. But a storm that put Montgomery under an hour-long tornado watch led to flooding in the building, which prompted an abrupt end of debate and a vote on the bill.
Water burst into the first floor of the building around 5 p.m. and flooded the area around the Statehouse. Staff and lawmakers’ cars swam in the lowered parking deck behind the Statehouse. There was water pouring in from the sides of glass doors into the hallway of the first floor.
Wednesday was one day short of the 17th anniversary of the 2009 flood of the Statehouse that led to lawmakers’ last regular business in the Old Chambers in the Alabama State Capitol.
The Senate continued debate despite the storm, but adjourned shortly after the fire alarm sounded.
“I got a feeling this is to be continued. So freeze whatever the time is, this is to be continued. We’re gonna have to probably get out of here,” said Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham.
‘Bad lawyering’
HB 1 passed on a 75-29 party-line vote. Rep. Rhett Marques, R-Enterprise and a candidate for Congress, abstained from the vote; he later told al.com that he wanted a map that created seven Republican districts.
“This bill simply creates a mechanism to hold special primary elections in certain congressional districts should the federal courts relieve us of the federal injunction against us,” said Pringle before debate began.
Twenty-seven of the House’s 29 Democrats spoke against the bill during the debate. No speakers apart from Pringle spoke on its behalf.
However, exchanges got tense. While Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, spoke about Alabama’s history of Black voter suppression and segregation, House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, said she was not staying relevant to the bill.”
“The Speaker gaveled me down, no differently than when he gaveled down one of my other colleagues when we began to get into race and when we began to get into history,” she told reporters on Wednesday . “We cannot stand here today without speaking about history, without talking about slavery, without talking about the assassination of (Dr. Martin Luther) King (Jr.).”
Ledbetter also gaveled down Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, during debate when things got heated between her and Pringle.
“It is time that we stop standing on the past and move into the future. I am tired of the doors that were closed that are just now cracking open,” she said.
Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa said the state’s loss in Allen v. Milligan was “bad lawyering.”
“Essentially Alabama’s on four years of probation, and instead of honoring that four years of probation, we’re in this session trying to go on a bender,” he said. “And there will be consequences to that, because to my estimation and many others, we are in contempt because we said we weren’t going to do anything like this.”
Democrats also mentioned a comment made by Marshall on Tuesday where he argued that Black voters can be adequately represented by the Republican Party.
“That’s the equivalent of saying that Black people should be led and governed by a master from slavery days,” Givan said.
Rep. Prince Chestnut, D-Selma, used the final 10 minutes of debate to question why Republicans didn’t speak up for the bill, alluding to Rep. Kenneth Paschal, R-Pelham, the House’s single Black Republican.
“This bill produces such a racial gerrymander, that not even the lone Black Republican serving in this body will hit his speaker light to come down to the well and defend it,” he said.
A message seeking comment was left Wednesday with Paschal, who voted for the bill. After the House adjourned, House Democrats said they are planning to file a motion in Allen v. Milligan alleging the passing of HB 1 is a violation of the court’s ruling.
Before the flood
Before the Senate convened, about 30 protestors gathered in the hallway outside the chamber. Senate security attempted to contain them, and Alabama State Troopers eventually joined. No force was used.
The protestors chanted that lawmakers are trying to take away Black representation, and that they would not move.
“We know you want us to leave, but we shall not be moved. Just like a tree, planted by the waters, we shall not be moved,” they sang. “This is the people’s house. We built this house. This is our house.”
SB 1 would affect State Senate Districts 25 and 26, which are currently represented by Sens. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, and Kirk Hatcher, D-Montgomery, respectively. Both senators have swapped districts for the 2026 election due to a court-altered map that was put in place in November.
Marshall and Secretary of State Wes Allen on Monday morning filed an emergency motion to vacate or stay district court injunctions blocking the use of state Senate maps the Legislature passed in 2021. The court has given plaintiffs until Thursday at 5 p.m. to respond to the state’s motion, with no further reply from the state allowed.
“This legislation sets up a special election to be held in the effective districts, only if the courts lift the injunction on the maps, duly enacted by this Alabama Legislature, which we anticipate happening soon,” Elliott said. “Alabama deserves to vote using their own maps in our upcoming primary.”
Soon after debate on the Senate floor began, a tornado warning for Montgomery County blared from every phone in the chamber. The Senate continued debate.
Sen. Robert Stewart, D-Selma, said that the bill would decrease voter turnout in Black voters and referenced a 2025 study by the Brennan Center for Justice.
“There are real world consequences, gentleman from Baldwin County, for changing election rules. Districts are being challenged in court. This bill could not have come at a more inopportune time. There is uncertainty around representation and compressed election timeline,” Stewart said.
The study showed that the voter turnout gap between Black and white voters hit a 16-year high in 2024. It found that if eligible non-white voters had turned out to vote in 2024 at the same rate as their white counterparts, there would have been 200,000 more ballots cast.
Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, offered an amendment that she first offered in committee on Tuesday, which would change a required special election to an optional special election.
“The law and order party is sticking their middle finger up to the Supreme Court. ‘We don’t have to adhere to your ruling that says we won’t do another district until 2030. We’re Alabama Republicans. We can do what we want to do,’” Coleman said.
The amendment failed 8-25.
Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, also offered an amendment that she offered in committee, which requires the Secretary of State to publish notice of the new election dates and polling locations.
“Giving voters notice of the date of an uncommon upcoming political election is essential because elections are only legitimate when citizens have a fair and meaningful opportunity to participate, adequate notice, protects constitutional rights, strengthens democracy and helps ensure public confidence in the outcome,” Figures said. “It protects the fundamental right to vote.”
The amendment failed 8-26, despite Elliott saying on Tuesday that he was open to the amendment.
“Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you members of the Senate for once again, showing me who you really are. God bless you, anyway,” Figures said after the vote.
The bill does not allow for a runoff election, which Elliott has said there is not time for. Hatcher, who currently has two Democratic challengers, offered the same amendment he did in committee, which would allow for a primary runoff election.
“Whether it’s a seat that I sit in, or anyone else in this chamber or this building, I’d like for them to be able to fairly, find some fairness in the process itself,” Hatcher said.
The amendment failed 8-26.
As debate and rain continued, the building flooded on the first floor.
Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, motioned to recess at the call of the chair, meaning the Senate could return at any time. Less than a minute later, Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth called lawmakers back in. Smitherman had not left the lectern.
“Can I continue or what?” Smitherman asked.
“You still have the mic,” Ainsworth said.
The fire alarm continued to blare as a cloture petition, which would limit debate to 20 minutes, was delivered to the clerk. Smitherman yielded to Elliott, who motioned for a final vote. Lawmakers voted as they were evacuating the chamber. Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, stood at the doors of the chamber, making sure members voted before they left.
The bill passed 26-7. The House Ways and Means General Fund Committee will hold a public hearing on the bill at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday.
Lawmakers, staff and the public filed down the only staircase on the west side of the building. Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, previously called the building a “fire trap” because of the lack of accessible staircases. Outside, there was no apparent fire, but a smell of gas.
From Alabama Reflector Post Url: Visit
Author: Anna Barrett, Andrea Tinker