The Alabama Legislature moved quickly Tuesday to advance companion redistricting bills through committee on the first day of the special session called by Governor Kay Ivey.
HB1, carried by House Pro Tem Chris Pringle (R-Mobile), and SB1, carried upstairs by State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Fairhope), establish a contingency framework that would void May 19 primary results in affected congressional and state Senate districts and trigger special replacement primaries if a federal court lifts injunctions currently blocking Alabama from using its Legislature-drawn maps.
If triggered, the special elections would carry an estimated price tag of roughly $5 million.
The fiscal note for HB1 projects $4.45 million in General Fund obligations to reimburse counties in the 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 7th congressional districts. SB1 carries an estimated $600,000 cost covering Senate Districts 25 and 26.
Pringle kept his explanation straightforward in the House committee.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this bill deals solely with a special election. That’s all it deals with,” Pringle said. “If the federal court removes their injunction against the state, this allows us to have a special election using the map — the plan that this legislative body passed in 2023 and was signed by the governor. That’s all this bill does. It sets up the pathway for a special election to use that map.”
Elliott echoed that upstairs in the Senate committee.
“This bill deals with a potential for a special election if the federal courts issue an order to vacate an injunction allowing the legislature to use maps that we previously enacted for our own Senate districts,” Elliott said. “That’s the bill in a nutshell.”
Under the bills, any candidate who qualified for the May 19 primary in an affected district would remain eligible for the replacement primary. The winner would be determined by plurality with no runoff, given the tight August 26 certification deadline. The November general election date would not change.
Both bills will go to the floor of their respective chambers on Wednesday. Governor Ivey has directed the Legislature to complete the special session within five days.
Sawyer Knowles is a capitol reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].
