By Brian Lyman | Editor
“While we are celebrating today, we must also tell the truth, that the progress we celebrate has not always been protected. The Voting Rights Act has been weakened. Section 5 has been gutted. Section 2 has been narrowed.” — Shalela Dowdy, plaintiff in Allen v. Milligan, on the 61st anniversary of the Voting Rights Act
Alabama Democratic Party Chair Randy Kelley (left, in light blue jacket) listens to Alabama Democratic Party Vice Chair for Minority Affairs Joe Reed (right, in beige jacket) during a rally against redistricting at the Alabama Statehouse on May 4, 2026 in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
By Anna Barrett
The State Democratic Executive Committee will gather in Montgomery Saturday to choose party leadership in a year where the party has seen some momentum in Alabama but where disputes over the direction of the organization remain. At least three candidates — current Chair Randy Kelley; Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton of Greensboro and Robert Hunter, an Alabama House candidate — plan to stand for chair.
Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, speaks with reporters on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2026, after a meeting of the Alabama Legislature’s Contract Review Committee. (Ralph Chapoco/Alabama Reflector)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
By Ralph Chapoco
Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, blocked two contracts between the Alabama Department of Corrections and a private attorney that could pay the attorney an additional $33 million. Contracts before the Legislature’s Contract Review Committee on Thursday, some of which were approved, would increase pay to Butler Snow attorney Bill Lunsford by a total of $38 million on top of previous payments running in the millions.
President Lyndon B. Johnson and Martin Luther King, Jr., Clarence Mitchell, and Patricia Roberts Harris exchange greetings after the signing of the Voting Rights Act on Aug. 6, 1965 in Washington, D.C. (Courtesy LBJ Library)
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
By Ralph Chapoco
The Southern Poverty Law Center Thursday held a 61st anniversary commemoration of the signing of the Voting Rights Act, which ended decades of disenfranchisement in Alabama and the South but has been gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court in recent decisions. Speakers praised the effects of the law but said the work to protect democracy must continue.
ICYMI
As federal protections fade, disabled Americans fear a return to institutions | Anna Claire Vollers, Stateline
Trump again tries to curb birthright citizenship, after Supreme Court loss | Ariana Figueroa, DC Bureau
US Senate panel votes to hold Fauci in contempt for declining to answer COVID questions | Jacob Fischler, DC Bureau
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