(Birmingham, AL) — May 2, 2025: The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) has secured a major victory in the City of Margaret, Alabama. A court entered an order memorializing the adoption of new redistricting maps after PILF alleged the City’s longstanding failure to redistrict violated the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause and the “one person, one vote” principle.
The order comes after PILF filed suit last January on behalf of residents whose voting power was drastically diluted by the city’s outdated district lines. PILF alleged Margaret’s council districts, which had remained unchanged for over 25 years, created extreme population disparities that violated the Constitution.
“The Constitution is clear: every citizen is entitled to equal representation,” said PILF President J. Christian Adams. “With this order, Margaret’s citizens now get that representation.”
At the time of the lawsuit, city council districts showed severe imbalances in voting-age population:
- District 1: 487
- District 2: 304
- District 3: 357
- District 4: 1,599
- District 5: 892
District 4 had more than five times the voting-age population of District 2, giving voters in smaller districts significantly more power per vote.
The agreed order outlines how the City of Margaret will proceed to local elections in August 2025 on the recently adopted redistricting plan that complies with constitutional standards.
This case continues PILF’s record of advancing constitutional redistricting principles nationwide. The Foundation recently prevailed in a Fifth Circuit case representing Galveston County, Texas, where the court ruled that the Voting Rights Act cannot be weaponized to enforce racially gerrymandered coalition districts.
Read the original complaint here. The Order is available here.
Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) is the nation’s only public interest law firm dedicated wholly to election integrity. The Foundation exists to assist states and others to aid the cause of election integrity and fight against lawlessness in American elections. Drawing on numerous experts in the field, PILF seeks to protect the right to vote and preserve the Constitutional framework of American elections. PILF has brought lawsuits and won victories in Texas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and across the United States.
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