When the U.S. Supreme Court last February allowed Alabama to use its new congressional map during the 2022 election, it seemed the justices were poised to overrule a lower court’s finding that the state had illegally diluted the power of Black voters under the Voting Rights Act.

In that order, Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed with the state that the U.S. District Court should not have required Alabama to add a second majority-Black congressional district so close to the upcoming primaries.