Protesters gathered in Selma, Alabama and other places to push back as Republican-led southern states redraw their congressional boundaries.
Voting rights activists gather in Alabama to protest redistricting
Religious leaders and activists gathered in Selma, Alabama, to protest the weakening of voting rights following a Supreme Court ruling.
SELMA, Alabama – More than 60 years ago, on a March day in 1965 known as “Bloody Sunday,” the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, was filled with screeching screams and lashings of batons.
The steady sound of footsteps turned from an organized march to chaos as civil rights protesters fled from police attacks.
But on May 16, 2026, the crowded bridge fell briefly into a deep silence amid a different kind of protest. The gray-haired, bearded pastors held their heads high. An older couple, dressed in the church’s best-dressed blue velvet dresses and sharp black suits, held hands as the woman rolled up a mascara-soaked tissue and dabbed it around her eyes.
The event was part of the “All Roads Lead South” National Day of Action, a protest planned by voting rights advocates, faith leaders and activists across the country. They hope the protests, including another high-profile one in Montgomery, Alabama, will be a galvanizing moment as Republican-led southern states rush to draw congressional district lines ahead of the midterm elections.
“This is a sad testimony to the United States of America,” said Rosemary McCoy, a protester from Jacksonville, Florida, more than a six-hour drive from Selma. “If I had come here for a different purpose, just touring the city, I probably would have felt differently. … But now I’m sad. This is a sad moment.”
Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia and Tennessee have redrawn or are considering new boundaries for their congressional districts following the U.S. Supreme Court’s April 29 ruling weakening key provisions of the Voting Rights Act. Early voting has already begun in some states, including Alabama.
“They have awakened a sleeping giant,” Democratic state Sen. Merica Coleman told USA TODAY. “People who may have thought politics didn’t affect them are now saying, ‘Hey, wait, wait, wait, they’re trying to take away my voice.'”
Supporters of the court’s decision argue that it supports a “colorblind” approach to the Constitution, which often views racial considerations as discriminatory. They also point out that Democrats used the same provisions of the law to carve out Democratic seats in Republican areas.
“I continue to say: Alabama knows our state, our people, and our district best,” Republican Gov. Kay Ivey said in a May 12 statement. “The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision is clear common sense and allows us to best represent our values in Congress.”
In mid-May, Alabama’s majority Republican legislature moved to revert to the 2023 map. Those maps had previously been struck down by a lower court, which ruled that they may have violated the law by diluting the voting power of black Alabamians.
Lower courts will have to decide whether the 2023 map can go into effect. Plaintiffs believe that the original judgment stands because of the finding of intentional discrimination. In that case, the results of the primaries in the congressional districts would stand, but a ruling is unlikely until after the primaries.
The Legislature decided to continue holding the state’s May 19 primary election. The results for four constituencies, the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th constituencies, will be invalidated. The state will then hold a special primary election on August 11th.
Coleman said she no longer has to think about what she was doing during the civil rights movement.
“We are now running our own movement,” she said. “And no one can stand by. We need the entire coalition.”
Protesters also planned an event at the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery. Protest groups nationwide are participating, including those organizing the No Kings rallies. They have organized more than 30 similar events across the country.
“We’ve faced these challenges before, and we know our strength. Alabama has always been a mecca for the fight for freedom, and this moment demands that we stand together again,” Cliff Albright and LaTosha Brown, co-founders of the Black Voters Matter Fund, said in a statement.
Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act was enacted to prevent racial minorities from diminishing their voting power by concentrating them in one district or spreading them out over many districts. After the act became law in 1965, black representation in the U.S. House of Representatives rapidly increased.
The court’s decision also applies to state legislatures, county commissions, city councils and local school boards.
Critics say the decision will weaken the voting and governing power of blacks and other minorities up and down the ballot, especially in the South. On May 13, leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus told NBC News they feared they could lose a third of their seats in redrawing Southern state boundaries.
Anecia Hardy, executive director of Alabama Values and Alabama Values Progress, said the priority now is to educate Alabama voters about the dual primaries, vote in both, and ensure they vote on the upper and lower ballots, including for statewide offices, judicial seats, Congress and county offices.
“The message on the ground is to go vote in droves. Even if they divide you, divide you, pack you into groups, we still need to come out,” said Hardy, whose group focuses on voter mobilization and education.
Hardy added that rather than holding large rallies, it might be better to spend the Saturday before the primary on phone banking, campaigning and educating voters about what happened.
Organizing efforts across the South this summer and beyond will look a lot like the 1960s, with a focus on voter education, door-knocking and town halls to “make sure the noise doesn’t stop when all the protests and rallies and other activities quiet down,” she said.
The bridge’s rusting white ironwork, the Art Deco style that adorns the buildings downtown, and the flow of the Alabama River beneath it have remained unchanged since the 1960s. Marchers say the fight for civil rights hasn’t changed.
“It’s sad because I’m here to fight the same fight (as the civil rights movement),” McCoy said. “And they want people to believe that we’re so divided. But the truth of the matter is, we’re not. And we’re going to come together and overthrow this administration.”
(This story has been updated to change or add photos and videos.)
