WASHINGTON (NEWSnet/AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the drawing of a new Alabama congressional map with greater representation for Black voters to proceed, rejecting the state’s plea to retain Republican-drawn lines.

In refusing to intervene, the justices allowed a court-appointed special master’s work to continue.

On Monday, the special master submitted three proposals that would create a second congressional district where Black voters comprise a majority of the voting age population or close to it.

A second district with a Democratic-leaning Black majority could send another Democrat to Congress at a time when Republicans hold a thin majority in the House of Representatives. Federal lawsuits over state and congressional districts also are pending in Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.

Alabama lost its Supreme Court case in June in which its congressional map with just one majority Black district out of seven seats was found to dilute the voting power of the state’s Black residents, who make up more than a quarter of Alabama’s population.

A three-judge court also blocked the use of districts drawn by the state’s Republican-dominated legislature in response to the high court ruling. The judges said Alabama lawmakers deliberately defied their directive to create a second district where Black voters could influence or determine the outcome.

Stark racial divisions characterize voting in Alabama. Black voters overwhelmingly favor Democratic candidates, and white Alabamians prefer Republicans.

The state had wanted to use the newly drawn districts while it appeals the lower-court ruling to the Supreme Court.

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