Dispute over Alabama Democratic Party control continues in federal court

An ongoing struggle over governance of the Alabama Democratic Party is now in the hands of a federal judge as former party officials attempt to intervene in a decades-old lawsuit over Black representation in Alabama Democratic politics.

More than a year after Montgomery Circuit Court Judge Greg Griffin dismissed a lawsuit from former Alabama Democratic Party chair Nancy Worley over lack of jurisdiction, former party officials Randy Kelley and Janet May are now attempting to litigate the issue in a 1989 lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Austin Huffaker Jr. heard arguments in court on Tuesday on whether 2019 bylaws adopted by the state party violate a 1991 federal court order.

Bryan Sells, an attorney representing Kelley and May, argued the 2019 bylaws — which added a number of additional minority caucuses, matching national bylaws — diluted the voting strength of Black Democrats in the State Democratic Executive Committee.

"Our claims are about the political power of Black voters," Sells said. "Who gets to choose who sits on the SDEC? Is it white Democrats or is it Black Democrats?"

Read more: https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story/news/2021/07/06/alabama-democratic-party-governance-dispute-continues-federal-court/7873150002/