College Freshman’s Map Chosen to Redraw Alabama State Senate Districts

Daniel DiDonato, a 19-year-old college freshman at the University of Alabama, had a map he submitted selected to redraw State Senate Districts 25 and 26 in Alabama, a federal judge’s opinion shows.

The judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama ordered the districts redrawn after a lawsuit filed in 2021 alleged violations of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The court invited public map submissions in October; Mr. DiDonato said he sent six maps that month and that one of them was chosen.

Mr. DiDonato, a political science major who said he was born in Alaska and raised in rural Alabama, described a longstanding interest in elections and mapmaking. He used a free online app called “Dave’s Redistricting,” said he followed the judge’s guidelines and that he did not let partisanship influence his maps, though he is a Democrat. He told The Times he was stunned when he learned the selected map was his.

The map is likely to be used in next year’s election, the article said, but an appeal is pending. Davin Rosborough of the A.C.L.U. told the paper that plaintiffs objected because, in their analysis of past results in one proposed district, Black candidates would often lose and white candidates nearly always won; the A.C.L.U. has not yet decided whether it will appeal.

Key Topics

Politics, Daniel Didonato, Alabama, Alabama State Senate, Voting Rights Act, Anna Manasco