A panel of Alabama lawmakers is holding a meeting about redrawing the state’s seven congressional districts, a task given to the Legislature by federal courts.

The 22-member reapportionment committee is expected to approve a map that would then go to the House and Senate for consideration.

A three-judge federal district court ordered the Legislature to approve a new map by Friday. The new map must be in place for next year’s elections.

On June 8, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Alabama’s current map, with one majority Black district out of seven, most likely violates the Voting Rights Act in a state where one-fourth of residents are Black.

The reapportionment committee, which includes 15 Republicans and seven Democrats, is discussing a number of proposed maps at meeting that started Monday at 10 a.m.

Rep. Chris Pringle, R-Mobile, co-chair of the committee, said he and the other co-chair, Sen. Steve Livingston, R-Scottsboro, would support a plan called the “community of interest” plan.

On the “community of interest” plan, District 7 would remain the only majority Black district, with a Black voting age population of 51.55%, which would be down from 57.07% on the current map. District 2 would have the second highest percentage of Black voting age population, at 42.45%. That is up from 31.86% on the current map.

The federal court said to fix the Voting Rights Act violation, Alabama would need a map with a second district with a majority Black population or close to a majority Black population to give Black voters an opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice.

Alabama’s district map has not changed much since 1992, when a federal court order made District 7 the first majority Black district. As a result that year, Alabama elected its first Black member of Congress since 1877. The state has maintained the six-to-one ratio in its congressional delegation since.

This is a developing story and will be updated.