Democratic National Committee asks federal judges to dismiss case on …

The Associated Press

MONTGOMERY (AP) — The Democratic National Committee asked a federal appeals court Thursday to dismiss a case centered on Alabama party infighting that could test the requirements of the Voting Rights Act.

The DNC argued that the lawsuit, which challenged 2019 bylaws establishing new diversity caucuses, is now moot and should be dismissed because the plaintiff, Randy Kelley, is now the head of the state party and new bylaws have been enacted eliminating some of the caucuses.

Kelley sued the DNC in 2021, asking a federal judge to declare that the 2019 bylaws violated the Voting Rights Act and a decades-old consent decree meant to ensure Black people are proportionately represented on the party’s executive committee. A judge dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that the state party could not be sued under the Voting Rights Act, but Kelley appealed to the 11th Circuit.

The lawsuit contends that the new bylaws, which added diversity caucuses for youths, disabled…